Reunion
by xoxVikkixox
Summary: Ok, C/J story ... not sure if it is any good though so yeah :P SPOILERS! If you have not read COG then do NOT read this! RATING CHANGED! M yet again for a lemon! My first one so be harsh!
1. Finally

OK, first FanFic ... probably not going to be very good : P But I had an inspiration so I just HAD to type it up ... anyway, this is after a scene in City of Glass so if you haven't read that book, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. There are some MAJOR spoilers in here.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THIS SERIES. I am just a huge fan who had some ideas.

This is set after the scene where Jace is talking to Luke on the hill overlooking Valentine's funeral. (See? Already a spoiler. Don't say I didn't warn you.) Luke has just left and Clary is on her way up to see Jace.

The faint breeze blew Clary's hair in a wild tangle as she climbed the steep hill. She had been looking for him for an hour already and was prepared to give up until she saw a faint glint of gold on the top of the hill; a gold that she knew all to well.

She hiked up her black cargo pants and started at a faster pace.

Jace sat at the crest of the hill, wind caressing his face, but he didn't seem to notice. His eyes were distant; too distant, Clay realised. He was lost in his thoughts, unaware of her presence.

She slowed, walking up behind him quietly, not wanting to interrupt his reverie.

He looked so troubled, yet peaceful at the same time. His golden eyes had turned dark, hard, and unseeing. His muscles were relaxed, but his posture was tense. And Clary could see the tiny gleam off a single tear that had welled in his eye and was threatening dangerously to spill over.

A surge of depression exploded in her stomach, and the need to comfort him was over-whelming. She started to lift her hand from its position at her side, but froze.

He was mumbling to himself. It sounded like a prayer; uttered in some ancient language that she didn't understand.

Finally, she could take the silence no longer.

"Jace?" She said softly, not wanting to startle him. The attempt failed miserably.

Jace was on his feet in less than a second, his hand clasped tightly around the hilt of his Seraph blade...Clary had thought he left it with the Lightwoods...

He paused when he realised who it was, letting go of the Seraph Blade and letting his expression soften.

"Clary..." He started, "I-I didn't hear you come up." He mumbled, turning his gaze away from hers.

Clary was rooted to where she stood. Maybe Aline was right...maybe he wasn't interested any more...

Without a word, she turned to go...no longer wishing to speak to him, see him, or have anything to do with him any more.

"Clary!" Jace exclaimed suddenly as Clary almost went tumbling down the hill.

"I'm fine." Clary replied indignantly, her voice cracking on the last word. "Just go back to whatever it was you were doing. It's ok; I won't bother you again."

Something seemed to click in Jace's mind. He was behind her in two strides, catching her by the elbow.

"Clary," he began in a panic, for the first time in his life, scrambling for words. "Don't-don't leave. Please,"

Clary turned her head slightly to face him. He was staring at her, awaiting her response. The cold hard wall that shielded his brilliant gold eyes was gone, he was exposed now; the gold shining in his eyes like stars. Her bottom lip trembled, as if she were about to cry, and Jace could stand it no longer. He had been fighting the urge to hold her in his arms for the past three days and now that he could, he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him.

He gathered Clary's sobbing body in a strong embrace, pressing her against him with all the force he had, stroking her hair and burying his face in her shoulder.

"I-I didn't think you wanted me anymore." Clary admitted in a whisper.

This sent Jace into a whirlwind of shock.

"_What_?" He practically gasped. "Clary, how can you say that? How-how could you even _think_ that?"

Clary was silent. She simply let Jace's arms hold her together, keep her from falling apart.

"If anything...I thought _you_ didn't want _me_ anymore." He corrected.

Clary looked up at him in the same shock he had looked at her in.

"W-why on Earth would you think something like _that_?" She asked.

"I killed your brother." He said so quietly it was hard to hear him. "You should hate me. Clary, I killed your flesh and blood."

Clary almost sang with joy. He hadn't been avoiding her because his feelings for her had left him...he was avoiding her because he thought that her feelings for him had left her!

She grabbed hold of the front of his shirt, pulling his face towards hers. She pressed her lips encouragingly against his in a feverish kiss.

Somehow, they ended up on the ground, much like they had been outside the Wayland Manor. Jace's arms encircled her body, pressing her into the soft ground.

His shirt was gone, and this time, he didn't stop at her coat.

Ok, end of chapter one. So this is gonna be a series of chapters maybe ... not really sure yet, But if you guys like what I wrote, please review and tell me if I should write some more. I actually do have a fair bit of ideas .. some include an oncoming death *gasp* . But anyway, review and tell me if I suck or not! Be brutal if you must ! : P


	2. Home Again

**Ok, Chapter 2 is here! I wanna just give a HUGE thank you to anyone who reviewed and/or added this to their Story Alerts, favourites, etc. So again, I do not own this series, just a few of my ideas.**

**And, I might add, that not much is really gonna happen in this chapter ... I don't think ... just because it's kinda like the beginning . I'll make more stuff happen in the next few chapters : )**

**In this chapter I just kinda skipped over the whole festivities and everything because all that already happened in the actual book, so this is a day or two after that.**

**Oh, and I'll try to post every week : )**

It was late afternoon, the sun receding from the ever-darkening sky. Clary sat in her room at Amatis's house, staring blankly at her suitcase. She hadn't brought much to begin with, but Luke and Jocelyn had insisted on buying her some clothes during their stay. Now she had too many possessions and only one suitcase.

Every now and then, she would take a folded shirt or pair of pants and lay it in the suitcase, examine the layout, take it out again, and go back into her state of blank-expression. Why must packing be so hard?

She was going back to the institute in 2 hours, abandoning the town that she had come to like in the past week or so.

There was a sudden knock on her door; Clary scrambled, shoving everything that would fit into the small bag. Surprisingly enough, she managed to make it all fit before Amatis poked her head into the room.

"Clary?" She stepped cautiously into the room, taking in Clary's bulging suitcase and her obvious disregard for reality.

Clary shook her head, trying to focus. It was rather hard focusing on much else than the fact that she was finally, _finally_ going home; and with Jace, no less.

"Y-yes?" Clary realised she had been staring at Amatis for the past few minutes.

"Luke is here, he says Magnus is ready a bit early if you wanted to leave now." She announced, sitting on the bed next to Clary's suitcase.

"Oh...ok. I think I'm ready," Clary said uncertainly, glancing around the room.

"Which basically means: 'I'm gonna get home and then realise I forgot something,'" announced a familiar, mocking voice from the window.

"Shut up Jace, no I won't." Clary insisted, whirling around in time to see Jace hit the floor in a form of elegance. He straightened, flipping his golden hair out of his face and crossed his arms, smiling at Clary.

Amatis took one look at the scene in front of her and, taking the hint with a knowing smile, exited the room without as much as a good bye.

"You ready?" Jace asked her again, advancing on her and wrapping her in his arms.

"Just about; I only need one more thing..." She smiled coyly, pressing her lips to his.

"Am I...interrupting something?" Another familiar voice called from the doorway. Clary turned her head slightly, not pulling away from Jace's hold on her, to see Luke standing in the doorway with one eyebrow raised. "Now I know why Amatis told me to wait downstairs."

"Then why didn't you listen to her?" Jace inquired, dropping his arms to pick up Clary's suitcase.

Luke simply smiled, ushering them both out the door.

By the time Luke, Clary, and Jace arrived at the meeting place that had been pre-selected, Magnus, Alec, Isabelle, Simon, Maia, and Jocelyn were standing in a jumble. Simon was chatting with Maia, Magnus and Alec were deep in discussion as well, and Jocelyn was smiling at Luke and Clary.

Clary looked around for a minute before realising...

"Hey," She whispered to Jace, "Where are Mayrse and Robert?"

"Not sure..." He answered. "Yo, Alec! Where are your parents?"

Alec's head shot upward at the sound of his name, interrupting Magnus mid-sentence.

"Um...didn't anyone tell you?" He looked confused.

"Tells us...what?" Jace raised a perfect eyebrow, making Clary smile slightly.

"My parents are...staying here...to help rebuild the Gard...I thought you guys knew..." Alec shrugged.

Clary's eyes widened. "But who will run the institute?" She asked.

"That would be me;" Jocelyn grinned sheepishly at Clary's shocked expression. "With Magnus's help, of course; and yours, if you're willing."

Clary's jaw dropped; but before she could say anything on the matter, Magnus intervened.

"Ok cats and kittens; let's get the ball moving shall we?" He clapped his hands together in anticipation, sending purple sparkles spiralling to the ground. He was outfitted in a green mesh shirt and blue leather pants that hugged his legs tightly, revealing perhaps too much.

Everyone nodded and almost as soon as they had, Magnus had a portal of swirling red orange smoke thundering in front of them. He gestured for someone to step through; Alec was the first to oblige, followed by Luke, then Isabelle, then Simon, Maia, and finally Jace and Clary. Clary felt a sharp tug on her stomach as the world dissolved around her, plummeting her body into an endless sea of black and pulls on her limbs. Suddenly, the world she knew as New York appeared in front of her as she landed in a heap on the soft ground. Jace followed, landing in a neat crouch beside her.

_Damnit, how does he do that?_ Clary thought as she brushed dirt off of her shirt, standing. She didn't have long before Magnus appeared to her left; closing the portal they had just come through.

Clary took a good long look at the Institute, remembering the foreboding gargoyles, the contrasting rose garden behind the enormous building, and the great double doors with the brass handles. But there was something different about the air of the place...something off...

It was only when she felt Jace tense beside her that she noticed what was throwing her off. There was a shadowy figure standing in the gateway, sheltered from the early morning sunlight.

"Raphael," Simon muttered, recognising his 'Vampire Dad'. "What does he want?"

"We're going to find out," Jace announced, taking a noticeable step in front of Clary, shielding her from the vampire.

"Jace, it's only a projection remember? He can't go out in the daytime." Jocelyn reminded him gently, "He can't hurt us."

Jace gave her a sideways look, but did not relax his posture. Instead, he took a few strides toward Raphael, but Simon was faster.

He was mere feet from Raphael by the time everyone had caught up.

The substitute Vampire Leader smirked, revealing a set of transparent, particularly sharp teeth.

He stared at them for a minute before sneering; "Daylighter, we need to talk."

**Ok, so that may suck, no idea. But anyway, review if you wish : ) OH and before I forget, I am open to suggestions for what you guys want to happen, I do have a plot line, but it is most definitely flexible. If you just give me some suggestions I can try my best to fit it into the storyline. Ok, looking forward to reviews =D**


	3. A Complication

**Woot new chapter! Ok, posting is gonna be a bit slow now because of exams ... but I shall try my very best to post weekly! If I'm late, SOOO sorry!**

Oh and by the by, what's with the lack in reviews? Not cool man, not cool.

**Anyway, here it is! Hope you guys like it : )  
**

Clary sat at an extremely large round table, at the head sat Jocelyn, on her right hand was Luke, on her left was Jace, to his left was Clary, and Alec, Isabelle, Maia, and of course Simon were lined on the other side of Luke. Everyone faced their unexpected visitor who preferred to stand in the corner, still unused to being in the sunlight despite his transparent state.

"Now," Jocelyn started in a very commanding voice; Clary was still surprised whenever she heard her mother talk like this, it was such a big change from the frail, overly-protective artist that she was used to. "Let's get down to business. Raphael," All attention snapped to the corner of the room where Raphael hid.

"I said I wanted to talk to the Daylighter," He stated simply.

"We're a packaged deal," Jace replied icily.

"Very well. Daylighter," He addressed Simon. "We're in need of your assistance."

"I-I can do my best but I can't really promise anything..." Simon trailed off after he received a warning glance from Jace. Apparently Simon had never learned to find out what exactly it is you're agreeing to before you agree to it. Clary glared at him.

"There have been several demon attacks on the Dumort in the past week or so. I'm nigh convinced Valentine is behind it." Raphael announced confidently.

"Valentine was killed almost 4 days ago. That's impossible." Luke informed him emotionlessly, as if he were simply stating a fact.

Raphael looked momentarily taken aback, he clearly hadn't expected a response like _that_.

After he addressed Luke with an expression Clary couldn't identify, he re-composed himself, finally stepping out of his corner and toward the table.

"That is quite...unfortunate. This revelation is certainly an inconvenience to me as now I simply have no idea who could be behind these attacks." Judging from the look he gave Magnus, whom had recently joined the party after mixing himself a martini, Clary guessed that wasn't completely true. "In any case, this doesn't change the fact that I need your help, Daylighter. Will you oblige?" Something about the way Raphael hissed the word 'oblige' made Clary shift uncomfortably in her seat. She was never really fond of Raphael after the whole incident with Simon, but he hadn't done anything to hurt then at this point so she trusted him on a strictly business level. This situation however, felt strange to Clary, like something was very,_ very_ wrong.

Simon seemed to stumble for a response. It was plain to see that he had no idea what to say. Alec, speaking for the first time, helped him out.

"We'll all accompany you to the Dumort first thing tomorrow." He stated firmly. _Not even I, _Clary thought, _have seen him so...demanding._

Raphael seemed to be displeased with this, but he took what he could get.

"Very well," He straightened. "I look forward to um..._working_ with you all." And with that final statement, his transparent form disappeared.

"Well, that was simply pleasant." Magnus chirped from the doorway. "We should have him over more often. Do you think he's a fan of tequila and cherry biscuits?"

Everyone ignored Magnus's less than helpful comment, realising that their meeting with Raphael had taken longer than anticipated; it was now after 8; although part of that was the time it took them to get their bags upstairs and into their rooms.

Luke stood up from the table. "I think we should all get a goodnight's rest." He stated gravely. "We very well need it."

No one objected to this, everyone was tired. Clary would even go as far as to say exhausted. She was barely aware as Jace escorted her back to his room.

It was the same as always, she realised with a pang of comfort. Obscenely clean for a teenage boy's room. But there was a definite presence there...a presence of Jace. His smell, his _feel_ was in that room. And that's what Clary loved about it.

She didn't bother changing into her pyjamas, she simply took off the belt that was looped through her khaki capries and collapsed onto Jace's bed.

She heard a faint chuckle from somewhere above her. She opened one eye to see Jace looming over her upside-down, each of his hands by her head.

"What're you laughing at?" Clary asked indignantly, turning the corner of her mouth down in a scowl.

"You," Jace said bluntly, leaning in to bring his lips to hers.

She smiled to her self as Jace somehow ended right-side up, with most of his weight on top of her. She didn't mind, it was a comforting pressure.

Suddenly, Jace stopped; looking down at her with an expression mixed with amusement and concern.

"You're tired," He stated, lifting himself off of her and instead resting his head slightly above hers.

"Brilliant observation," Clary rolled her eyes, shimmying down so she could lay her head in between his neck and shoulder.

"Goodnight my angel, sleep well." He kissed her lightly on the forehead before letting her drift off to sleep.

**Ok, another short chapter I know ! But I'm having a bit of a block here, or I had one at least. I'm pretty sure I know what's on the go for the next few chapters. Review please !**


	4. Impending Doom

**Woot! Chapter 4! I'm surprised I've gotten this far :P Anyway, so this is where it starts to get interesting....**

Clary huddled into Jace as they approached the Dumort. It was surprisingly chilly for the season, and all she was wearing was a half-sleeve sweater.

Raphael came out to meet them in his projected form, planning to switch back to normal once he guided them inside.

Jace led Clary, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, Jocelyn, Luke, and Maia down in through the cellar where they had first met Raphael. The entirety of the time, Clary did her best not to think too much about that.

They ascended the rickety staircase and the scene became a bit too familiar to Clary. She took a sharp intake of breath when she realised what room they were suddenly in.

Jace took her hand comfortingly, leaning his head closer. Some of his hair brushed against her cheek.

"Don't worry," he whispered comfortingly. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

There was a gagging noise behind them and Clary inclined her head to see Magnus with his finger pointed at his tongue.

"Would you two love doves do the rest of us a favour and go rent a hotel room? I hear the Holiday Inn has a simply _divine _couples' retreat." Magnus shook his head, sending red sparkles flying.

"I don't think so." Jocelyn hissed back at them. "Now all of you; be quiet."

They continued on in silence, waiting for the attack that Raphael had assured them was coming.

After a while, Jace spun to face Raphael. "Where is this so called attack, Vampire?" He snarled.

"Right behind you," Raphael pointed a long white finger in the direction behind Jace. They all turned to see what Raphael was talking about.

A hoard of demons all battled with vampires in every corner of the room. There was demon blood being spilt everywhere, along with Vampire.

"Mary Mother of God," Luke muttered.

It was a gruesome scene, so gory that it almost made Clary throw up.

"Get behind me!" Jace instructed her as the first of many demons hurled itself at them. Jace pulled out his Seraph blade and the team divided, each with their own score of Demons.

Clary made sure to stay close to Jace, watching his back with her own Seraph Blade that she acquired before they left.

"Look out!" She called to Alec who had his back turned to a particularly large Demon that was close on him.

Clary ripped out a small knife and flung it at the Demon just as Magnus sent a blue fireball shooting right at it. The Demon let out a cry of pain as it folded in on itself, blinking out of existence.

"That was close," She said to Alec.

"Yeah...thanks Clary, Magnus." Alec nodded to the both of them, turning back to another Demon that ad taken an interest in their little party.

It all went downhill after that.

"CLARY!" She heard Jace call out her name, but it was too late. The Demon came flying at her; she couldn't run away in time...

Luckily, she didn't have to.

Alec returned the favour, shoving her up the staircase.

"Run!" He told her as every Demon in the room, noticing that someone was about to escape, came running, flying, slithering, etc toward the stairs.

Clary ran at Jace's persuasion. He gave her another push, and she obliged.

The stairs winded confusingly upward and, for some unknown reason, Clary knew they were headed to the roof.

Sure enough, she was right. She burst through the rickety door, followed thereafter by Jace, Alec, the rest of their troop, and the Demons.

The Vampires stopped in their tracks, retreating back into the Dumort.

"Sunlight," Luke explained, seeing Clary's questioning face. "We're on our own."

"Great," Alec muttered, "Just great."

Another Demon came at Clary, she thrust the Seraph Blade into its middle, stumbling back and hitting her legs off the side of the hotel. She happened to glance something out of the corner of her eye...

"Uh...Jace...." Clary called over her shoulder.

"Kinda busy-here," He grunted back.

"Jace!" She exclaimed.

"What?!" He threw off the Demon he was wrestling, coming over to stand next to her. "Dear Sweet Jesus..."

Below the hotel, out of sight of the street, was a swirling mass of black and gray. It looked almost like a portal...except Demons were spilling out of it by the hundreds.

Simon swore under his breath as he and the rest of them gazed upon the perilous whirlpool.

"What is it?" Alec asked as they turned their attention back to the more pressing matter.

"I don't know," Jocelyn responded first. "But I say we avoid it."

Clary nodded vigorously.

The team spread out again, each battling with twice the vigour they originally had.

Only Clary wasn't battling, she was so transfixed on the portal that she almost didn't hear the cry that sounded out behind her...

"Clary! Look out!" She had been so absorbed in the portal beneath her that she didn't notice the massive, scaly Demon right behind her.

Jace tried to get to her in time, but he was too far away. He would never make it.

Clary backed up, big mistake.

The back of her knees hit the side of the roof, causing her to loose balance. She tumbled backward, spinning and flipping toward her doom.

"CLARY!" Jace yelled, sprinting to the side of the building. He could catch her; go in after her; _something. _

"Jace! No!" Alec appeared behind him, closing his hands around Jace's wrists, stopping him from going any further.

"Alec let me go! I need to get to her before she gets herself killed!" Jace struggled against Alec's iron grasp, but Alec would not relent.

"Jace, stop! It's over."

At this, Jace froze, letting Alec get a better grip on his arm.

"What?" He demanded.

"That's not a portal." Alec explained. "Magnus _just _told me about them. It's called a one-way. Do you know why it's called a one-way?"

Jace knew, but he wasn't going to give up.

"I don't care! I can get to her! I just have to-"

"No Jace! You can't. She's gone. And she's never coming back."

"You're wrong." But even as he muttered the words, he knew they weren't true. He knew it in his heart that they weren't true.

Jace's expression remained unreadable. He looked like someone had just taken a punch to his stomach. He yanked his arm free of Alec, backed up a few steps, and then crumpled to the ground as the Demons, having got what they came for, retreated.

He stayed there for a long time, not listening to Jocelyn's cries as Luke tried to comfort her, sounding teary himself. Not listening to Alec and Isabelle telling him they had to leave. And most of all, not listening to Maia or Magnus as they tried to tell Simon he could find a new friend.

He had never felt so defeated, so lost, so deserted.

Clary was gone.

And it was his fault for not watching her.

He couldn't take it anymore.

He let out a single cry of anguish before the tears started.

**Oh yeah, that's right. I killed Clary. I'm a murderer! But of course, you all know the truth so I needn't repeat it. Please review you guys? I only got two for the last chapter.**


	5. Claire Morgan

**Ok, so I decided to be a nice child and update a day early so you guys wouldn't kill me :P I TOLD YOU TO HAVE FAITH IN ME !!! Ok, read on !**

Claire Morgan rushed around her kitchen, gathering medications, snacks, anything she might need on her trip.

"Claire! Hurry _up_!" Kelsey called from the front door.

"I'm coming!" Claire yelled back, shoving her arm roughly through the sleeve of her sweater.

"God you are so _slow_! My Pop's not going to hold the truck forever, you know." Kelsey, a short, dark brown-haired girl with pink rimmed glasses and a serious attitude, tapped her foot impatiently as Claire slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"I know, you've only said that about 20 MILLION times." Claire replied, following Kelsey out to the car, smoothing her fiery red locks. "You know, the law only requires you to say things once nowadays." The wind took hold of her un-zipped sweater, causing her to stumble and a shiny metallic object fell from her barely-closed pocket.

Kelsey paused mid-step to swoop down and pluck it off the ground. She held it at arms length, staring at it with an eye-brow raised.

"Claire....what's this?" Her mouth turned down at the corners as Claire snatched the dagger-shaped object from Kelsey's outstretched hand.

"A letter opener," Claire answered, shoving her backpack into the truck bed.

"A damn sharp letter opener," Kelsey muttered.

"Well, sometimes the glue is really sticky," Claire shrugged.

"Why are you brining a _letter opener_ to my cabin anyway?"

"It's an antique. I bring it everywhere. Now can we go? We're gonna be too late to get to the beach." Claire hauled the truck door open, seating herself inside.

"You know Clary-"

"Do NOT call me that." Claire snapped.

"Why? What do you have against that name?" Kelsey looked confused.

"Don't ask. Just DON'T call me Clary; _ever._" And that closed that argument.

"Fine, whatever. You know,_ Claire_, ever since you moved here people have been talking."

"At least they haven't been singing. Musicals seriously bug me." Claire smirked, glancing out the window.

"Be serious Claire; the only reason we're friends now is because I was dared to try and find out your parents' names. And you wouldn't even tell me that."

"You know my parents' names! My Mom's name is Joyce and my Dad's name is Lee."

"I only found that out like last month. And how long have you been here?"

"A year," Claire paused briefly, "And six days."

"Exactly. That's weird Claire, besides; no one has ever even seen your parents. Where are they now?"

"They're-"

"Working, precisely." Kelsey cut her off. "They're always working."

"Look, can we get off this topic? I just wanna relax this weekend. No thoughts, no issues, just me, you, a beach and a tent."

"Fine, but one more thing; who takes care of you if your parents are always at work?"

"I'm 18; I can take care of myself." Claire turned her head away from Kelsey, feeling a pang of loneliness and thanking God that she didn't have any blond friends...

With a fierce war cry, Jace swung his Seraph blade in a wide, aggressive arc, bringing it down on a hefty demon's head. It made a sizzling noise before folding in on itself and disappearing into oblivion.

The other demons looked from Jace, to their dead leader, and made a run for it, not bothering to look back.

Jace didn't smile to himself; he just wiped his sweat drenched hair away from his face and leaned against a tree, waiting for Alec and Isabelle to show up although he knew they wouldn't.

They had stopped following him on missions a few months ago because his attacks were so savage these days that he scared away the rest of their foes by mindlessly slaughtering only one or two.

He dropped to the ground, his head leaning back against the rough exterior of the tree trunk.

Suddenly, there were footsteps, fast footsteps...like someone was running towards him. He opened one eye lazily, not really caring who or what it was.

"Damnit Jace...what is...with you?" Alec panted, coming to a stop a few feet from where Jace sat.

"Nothing. You guys are the ones being too slow to even make the battle in time." Jace replied off-hand.

"We wouldn't _be _so slow if you would just wait up once in a while. What are you trying to prove anyway?" Isabelle came to rest next to Alec.

This comment hit home. Jace said nothing, only turned his gaze away from his siblings.

Alec and Isabelle exchanged looks. "Jace..." Alec began calmly, "You're not...you're not still trying to find her...are you?"

Jace flinched.

"Oh Jace," Isabelle sighed in exasperation. "We've been through this Hun, she's not coming back. It's been a year!"

"And six days," Jace mumbled.

"Exactly," Alec picked up. "She's gone; you have to let it go."

Jace was silent, avoiding the piercing gaze of his two friends. Finally, his stubbornness kicked in and he rose to his feet in one swift movement.

"No," he insisted, glaring at Alec. "You're wrong." And with that, he took off at a run, and not even Alec tried to stop him.

**Tada! See? I would never kill Clary! Now, the only thing that remains would be...reunion? Perhaps? Wink wink. Anyway, I'm having a bit of a dilemma you guys. See, the next chapter could be REALLY long, or I could divide it up a bit. Let me know what you guys think I should do, my idea works either way : )**


	6. Together Again

**Alright people, seeing as the majority of you insist on a longer chapter....**

**Here it is ******

"Ok...so this pole goes here...then this pole goes here...now what about the...Kelsey? Could you _please _forget about your tan for one second and help me with the tent cover?" Claire huffed; arching her back in a stretch before giving Kelsey a sideways eyebrow raise as the little brunette got up from her lying position in the sand and sashayed over to where Claire stood.

"What?" She looked bewildered "Actual _work_? You said you would do everything!"

"I would, but if I try this on my own, the wind will take it and I'll blow away." Claire shoved the end of the tent cover into Kelsey's disgusted grasp and nodded toward the cabin where Kelsey's grandparents prepared supper. "If they hear you complaining then they'll make us sleep indoors. And then you'll be stuck in the same bed as your Nan and I'll be on the floor. Now come on, take that string and tie it to the peg."

The two girls laboured for about an hour, Claire doing more of the labouring than Kelsey but...

"Hey, would you look at that. We're done and we still have daylight. Sun tan?" Kelsey suggested.

Claire sighed, "Why not?" She untied her skirt so she was in just her two-piece and collapsed onto her pink beach towel, soaking up the warm rays of fading sunlight.

Jace came to a halting stop, breathing heavily and clutching the stitch in his side. He had never run so far or fast in his life, he was amazed at the lengths he would go to to forget the hideous truth that he knew he must someday face.

The sun was sinking in the sky and he knew that he only had a few daylight hours left, but he wasn't near ready to return to the institute. Instead, he collapsed on the ground, staring up at the sky and reminiscing about the past year.

What had he done all year?

He couldn't even remember.

It was all a depressed blur that included many fits of anger, crying, and absolute denial. He wasn't about to give up on the one hope that kept him going for the past 371 days all because of a statement from his brother. No, he wouldn't give up. Not yet. Not ever.

"CLAIRE! KELSEY! SUPPER!" Kelsey's Pop called from the tiny kitchen.

Good Lord that man had a decent set of lungs for an eighty year old.

Kelsey and Claire gathered up their towels and the many shells they had scavenged from the white sand and headed towards the cabin. Kelsey seemed at ease, but Claire was slightly on edge. This was a lot closer to...

No. No. She would _not_ allow herself to remember the one building that held some of her fondest memories. Not yet.

There was a sudden move in the trees that caught Claire's eye, a small fleck of blue amongst the army of pine and maple trees just breaking free from their winter's nap.

Claire froze, unsure of what to d about the situation. Her right hand twitched toward the 'letter opener' concealed in her sweater pocket.

"Claire?" Kelsey called from a few feet in front of her. "What's wrong?"

Claire was silent for a long time before she pulled together the confidence to respond. "Nothing. It's nothing." She took a few steps forward. "I just thought I saw something, that's all. Probably some kind of animal." She shrugged the topic off as Kelsey looked at her in horror, not being one for anything outdoorsy let alone wild, possibly rabid, animals. She made this point _very_ clear the entire walk back to the cabin.

Kelsey's grandparents had managed to put together a decent meal without the use of modern-day electronics. Chicken cooked rotisserie-style over a campfire that was still going for the girls' to use later on for roasting marshmallows.

Claire and Kelsey ate quickly, not sure they could bear any more lectures about 'the old days'. Claire was decently sure that these people were the only real-life grandparents who actually did this.

"Ok, we're gonna go um...roast marshmallows now...bye!" Kelsey announced, grabbing two blankets and the bag of fluffy white marshmallows.

The sky had darkened considerably now, making it night impossible to see beyond the orange glow of the crackling flame. The girls were enjoying themselves immensely, unbothered by Kelsey's grandparents who had gone to bed earlier than they had thought possible, and getting their fill of smores.

Until, that is, Claire was distracted from Kelsey's rant about brands of foundation by a shuffling noise from behind one of the trees surrounding their tent. The sound, no matter how quiet, was unmistakeable.

Footsteps

**Done! No, I'm kidding, I wouldn't do that to you guys. On with the story....**

Claire's breath caught in her throat. They were in a deserted cabin in the middle of the woods; there wasn't even cell phone reception, let alone other people. She knew that there was only one possibility and she didn't even want to think about it.

But she would soon have to, regardless f what she wanted.

She grabbed a flashlight, and a bucket of water, dousing the fire and splashing Kelsey a little in the process.

"Hey!" She exclaimed in surprise, grabbing onto Claire's arm the way a little girl would cling to her mother. "What's going on? Why are we going into the tent so soon? It's only eleven thirty!" She added after glancing at her glow in the dark watch.

Claire unzipped the tent, ushering Kelsey inside. The glow of the flashlight was nothing compared to the light the fire provided but it would have to do. Kelsey was curled up in her sleeping bag, staring at Claire worriedly by the time she had closed up the tent.

Normally, Claire would've taken them inside the cabin, but she didn't want to have to include more people in this than was absolutely necessary.

"Claire, what's going on?" Kelsey whispered, obviously terrified. "You're acting really weird."

Claire clutched the 'letter opener' in her pocket tightly, ready to whip it out at a moments notice. "Ok Kelsey, I don't have time to explain now." She said in a low voice. "But do exactly as I say ok? And whatever you do, don't scream." She emphasized the last part strongly, "Everything will be fine."

God she really hoped that were true.

The woods were silent, all except for the ever-growing sound of footsteps. They were unmistakeably heading to their tent.

A second later, the zipper slide down, much louder than it normally seemed, and a blue haired boy of about eighteen, much similar to the one Claire had seen that night in Pandemonium, slipped into their tiny tent. He smirked at the way Kelsey yelped slightly and flinched away from him before his piercing gaze rested on Claire and his dull eyes widened.

"Clarissa Morgenstern," He marvelled. "It's been a _long_ time."

The sun had completely set now and Jace was beginning to drift off. He stared at the stars for a little while longer, before being reminded of that night too long ago...back at the institute....in the green room...with-

He jumped up, willing his mind not to remember anything further. The night engulfed his being, pressing closer until he had to move. He started at a brusque walk, not heading anywhere in particular but wanting to get away from that spot.

Claire Morgan sucked in her breath, surprised at hearing her real name uttered from the mouth of this unknown demon.

"My, my, my, my, my," The Blue-haired Demon shook his head in disbelief. "You sure had us all fooled Clarissa. Pulled the wool over our eyes, you did; but there were rumours. Lots and lots of deranged rumours that you were still around. But I didn't believe any of them, until now at least." He smirked. "At least this time when the story gets out that you're dead, I'll be able to back it. Imagine this: the one Demon to do what Valentine couldn't...kill Clarissa Morgenstern."

Out of the corner of her eye, Claire could see that Kelsey was shaking her head in confusion and fear. Claire held the Demon's gaze steadily, clutching the 'letter opener' more tightly than ever before.

"I'm sorry; I can't imagine something that is so incredibly impossible!" Claire snapped.

"Feisty," He snarled. "So the stories are true."

"Look _Demon_," She spat the word like a curse. "I'll make you a deal. You leave now, send a message for me, and I'll let you live."

He barked out a laugh. "_You'll_ let _me_ live? I'm not the one backed into a corner hear darling."

"Not yet," Claire whispered.

The Demon's face fell into an expressionless state, contemplating her offer.

"Very well Clarissa Morgenstern, I accept your offer. On one condition, you give the word to _every _shadowhunter to let me live." Claire nodded in quick agreement. "Now, who am I meant to send this message to?"

Claire took a deep breath, considering that Kelsey was about to witness the turning point of her life before responding. "Jace Lightwood,"

Jace picked up his pace, something in the air was warning him of something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The wind was blowing rapidly through the trees, causing a chill to rake through him. He glanced around suspiciously, analysing every single small movement that he caught. One particular movement demanded his attention as he swivelled in place, hauling out his Seraph blade in a mad scramble to prepare himself.

"Calm yourself Nephilim, I mean you no harm." A boy of about eighteen with Blue hair and a cocky attitude stepped into Jace's line of vision; he had his hands held in front of him mockingly, striding forward without a care in the world. "In fact, you might just give me a medal for what I'm about to tell you."

"I doubt any information a _Demon_ could tell me would be of consequence." Jace snarled. "But amuse me,"

The blue-haired boy smirked, showing his inhumanly pointed teeth. "I have a message for you, Jace Lightwood, from a girl. About eighteen, red hair, green eyes, fiery temper, sound familiar?"

Jace's mouth went dry. His face stayed in the same determined expression as he listened to the Demon.

_He's taunting you Jace; he's only making her sound like Clary to get to you. _He tried to convince himself.

"Well, if you're interested, she's in the clearing about 20 miles that-a-way." He gestured behind him, "She's in a tent with another girl. Same age, brown hair, small, pink glasses, that kind of thing."

And with that closing statement, he was gone.

Claire collapsed onto the sleeping bag, in a complete daze while Kelsey demanded she tell her what was going on.

"Kelsey," Claire interrupted. "Just-just give me a minute."

He was coming. She was going to see him again. After a full year and six days she was going to come face to face with the love of her life who, although he would soon be proved false, thought she was dead.

Damn.

She was close on hyper-ventilating, not sure if she could really go through with this. It wouldn't matter soon either way, but she was still freaked.

Suddenly, she heard a sound that almost stopped her heart, the sound of someone approaching the tent.

She stared at the tent opening expectantly.

_Please let it be Kelsey's grandparents..._ she begged.

No luck

A head full of striking blond hair poked its way into their tiny abodes, addictive eyes focusing on Kelsey who gasped and fell back into her sleeping bag.

Claire was frozen; she couldn't move or make any form of sound. It was like the binding rune Valentine had used against her all over again.

Finally, Jace removed his vision from Kelsey, meeting Claire's frightened emerald eyes in a shocked stare.

The atmosphere went cold, not one of those warm and fuzzy reunions you picture on books, but the exact opposite.

Kelsey was staring at them in bewilderment, still utterly oblivious as to what was going on.

"You know what? I can't handle this." She announced, "I'm going inside." She gathered her sweater around her and bolted for the Cabin, Jace didn't try to stop her.

All was silent in the tent, no one daring to move or breathe. Finally, Jace broke the silence.

"Is it really you?" He choked.

Claire could only nod.

He was struck with silence briefly again, absorbing this information before he spoke again. "Why didn't you come back?" he whispered softly.

Claire stayed silent, averting his gaze.

"Well?" He demanded, voice growing in volume, "Why?"

"I can't tell you," she whispered at last, tears welling in her eyes.

"Why not Damnit? He took a step towards her. "I've spent the past year looking for you. Do you know how much that hurts? To know that you've been _here_, twenty God damned minutes from where I was? Of all the places in the freaking world you choose to live in spitting distance of me?" Jace ranted, glaring at her with a crazed desperation, "What kind of cruel joke is that Clary?"

"I don't go by that name anymore..." Claire whispered.

Jace's shoulders dropped. "So that's it then? That's all you have to freaking say? If you don't give me some God Damned answers right this second I am turning around, leaving, and I am _never_ coming back." He spat.

Claire remained silent, the tears hadn't spilled over yet, but they were close. This is not how she wanted this to go.

Jace remained expressionless while he waited for her answer. When she offered none, his gaze grew hard. "Fine," he muttered. "You don't care about me, I'm out of here. But before I go, tell me that to my face." He lurched forward until e was directly in front of her. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me anymore. Tell me you never want to see me again!"

Claire glared at him for a split second before raising her arm and slapping him across the face. He looked taken aback but made no move to strike her back.

"How. Dare. You." She hissed. "How dare you show up here and look me in the face and tell me that I don't care about you anymore! How dare you even let that insane thought enter your deranged mind? _I _came to find _you_. Because _I_ wanted to see_ you_." She had stood up in her frustration with him, forcing him to stand as well, tilting her head to see his face. "Because _I_ couldn't stand to be away from _you_ and longer! Because _I _missed _you_. And now you come here and tell me that I don't freaking care? I care too much! I _love_ you Jace! And there's nothing you can do about it! So if you want to leave, go! I don't give a damn! Walk out of this tent and never come back! I promise I won't bother you again." Claire finished; the tears were spilling now, staining her cheeks and dripping on her shirt.

Jace was frozen where he stood, shocked into silence.

Before Claire knew what was happening, his mouth was on hers, his fingers tangled in her hair and her arms locked in a death grip around his neck.

She broke away after a long time, gasping for air. Jace made no move to kiss her again, but he did not remove his hands from her body. He slid then down to her waist.

"Tell me why," he demanded again. "Tell me why you stayed away for so long."

"I-I can't," Claire shook her head, the tears starting all over again.

"Why not? You know you can tell me." Jace pressed, growing anxious.

"I c-can't Jace! I can't tell you!"

"Why not?"

"Because!" Claire exclaimed, breaking down and burying her face into his chest. "H-he'll kill you." She shook her head slightly, sobbing uncontrollably, "He'll kill you."

**Whew! DONE! That was the longest chapter yet! Anyway, GASP! Who could be after Jace? Surely not Valentine, he's dead (for real this time) So who could it be? I'd love to know what you guys think. So review please!**

***Yay! They're together again! FINALLY!* **


	7. Unexpected Twist

**Ok people, I'm having a bit of a block here because of exams so I'm trying my best but I might be a little slow. Thanks for your patience! BTW, there's some fluff in this chapter :P Sorry, couldn't help myself!**

Jace stared down at the crying girl in his arms in astonishment. He couldn't believe it. Finally he had found her, only to discover that the reason she left was because of him?

"Clary, what are you talking about?" He asked gently, tilting her chin up so she was looking at him.

Clary sniffed lightly, staring at Jace with a look of pure desperation. "I can't tell you." Her voice was so small it was almost a whisper.

Jace stiffened slightly, but he didn't want to push her. Not yet. He was just glad that she was back with him, really here, in his arms, and he wasn't letting her leave him again.

Instead of pressing the matter like Clary expected, he leaned in to press his lips lightly to hers before guiding her to the ground and her sleeping bag where he let her cuddle closely into his outstretched arms and soon they both were close on sleep; not truly realising how much sleep they had really lost in the past year.

...and six days.

.

Clary awoke to the blinding morning sun and a distinct scratching on the tent door.

Fear immediately knotted in her stomach before she remembered that it was impossible, he couldn't be here, not now at least.

She began to untangle herself from the sleeping bag and the unconscious form that she assumed to be Kelsey.

Why was Kelsey hugging her so damn closely?

In fact, why was Kelsey hugging her at all?

It was only when the morning stupor had worn off that it occurred to her; this form was much too strong to be Kelsey, too masculine.

Remembering everything, Clary almost started to cry as she abandoned her attempt to get up and pressed closer to Jace (if that was even possible) who was still sound asleep in his shadowhunting gear.

She was completely prepared to ignore the scratching until it became more persistent and a low hiss escaped someone's agitated lips.

"_Jace!" _The voice sounded familiar, but Clary couldn't put a finger to it. God, she loved being able to use her real name again. Clary, Clary, Clary, Clary; she could repeat it over and over.

This time, Clary was able to escape Jace's hold on her and make it to the door of the tent before the impatient voice tore the tent down. She grabbed hold of the zipper and whipped it down, revealing Alec's irritated, then shocked, then disbelieving face.

"C-Cl-Clary?" He stuttered, absolutely astounded.

"Alec!" Clary exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that they were supposed to be awkward around each other and throwing her arms around his neck.

He stumbled backwards with the force of her hug, catching himself before he fell.

"H-how...?" He was still shell-shocked, unable to form a coherent sentence. "You're- but that's- and you..._you're dead_." He finally managed to say.

"I know! Isn't it great?" Clary chirped, kissing Alec on the cheek before doing a small spin. She had never been this happy in her life.

Jace, hearing the commotion outside the tent hauled himself up and emerged, golden head first, into the light. Clary took notice of this and spent only a fraction of a second finishing her spin before she was huddled in Jace's arms, marvelling at how she had ever been able to survive being deprived of this feeling for so long.

Alec was still gaping, completely dumbfounded at Clary and rubbing his cheek where her lip-gloss had smudged his skin.

"JACE LIGHTWOOD!" An enraged female voice exclaimed from behind the trio. Of course it was Isabelle; Jace turned only his head so as to shield Clary from her line of vision, intent on surprising her.

"Yes Mother?" Jace responded formally.

"Where the _hell_ have you been? Do you realize how long we've been-" Isabelle froze, staring at Alec in shock. "Alec...did Jace just say something..._sarcastic_?" She let her mouth drop open in shock. This hadn't happened in a little over a year. "What _happened_?" She asked him, and knowing Jace, she expected a topless blonde to emerge from the tent at any moment.

"This happened," Jace smirked, turning completely and revealing Clary to Isabelle who looked as if she might faint.

"Cl-Clary?" Isabelle gasped, a similar reaction to that of her brother. "H-how?"

Clary wrenched herself free of Jace's grasp and flung herself at Isabelle, a smile so big plastered to her face that she could have just won the lottery.

"Izzy!" She exclaimed in delight, hugging her old friend.

Isabelle got over her initial shock much faster than Alec and was soon hugging her back, jumping up and down with little squeals of happiness escaping her mouth.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it! We all thought you were gone! What happened? Oh it doesn't even matter, you're back!" Isabelle chirped.

"I know!" Clary didn't even realize that she was squealing too until Jace gave her an odd look. She smiled sheepishly back, wrapping her arms around him again and abandoning her attempt to get a coherent sentence out of Isabelle.

"Oh God!" Isabelle suddenly gasped; her hand flying to her mouth in horror. "We completely forgot! Luke! Jocelyn! They're gonna want to see you! We have to get you back! Even Magnus missed you, I heard him say so! Well technically, he said he was going to miss your fiery little temper, but it's still you! Oh! And Maia even, she wasn't quite as supportive...but still! Come on!" Isabelle grabbed Clary's wrist, intent on dragging her toward the Institute, but Jace stopped her, nodding his head towards the house where a very confused Kelsey stood, staring at them all.

"I'll handle this," Clary assured them, walking towards Kelsey who looked at her in fear for a minute before relaxing only slightly. "Hey Kelse," Clary smiled shyly. "Look, I'm gonna go with these guys now, ok? But it's alright. They're my- they're my family. You see that guy with the black hair? And the girl?" Kelsey nodded shakily. "They're brother and sister. They're like a brother and sister to me too; and the blond guy over there? That's the love of my life. His name is Jace. And I never want to leave him again. As long as I live."

.

The moment Clary stepped into the Institute she was engulfed by blue flannel. Alec had raced on ahead while Clary was explaining things to Kelsey to inform everyone of their news. Luke was the first to the door, as he was the fastest. Clary could've sworn she saw his tongue elongated and lolling out of the side of his mouth before she was swept up in his hug.

"Clary! Dear God I've missed you kiddo," He growled at her, sounding a bit teary-eyed. Jocelyn held back nothing; she was in full blown tears as she smothered her daughter, claiming that she was never letting her out of her sight again. Jace intervened at this point, making it clear that Jocelyn would have to wait until _after_ Clary had been surgically attached to his hip.

It was a long and teary reunion before Clary was allowed some breathing space. Everyone stepped back, smiling like crazy and marvelling at how she'd changed. It was only when Alec mentioned that with her long hair she looked like Tomb Raider that she noticed.

"Hey, where's Simon?" She exclaimed happily, expecting him to pop out from behind a door like they did when they were kids and try to scare her.

The atmosphere shifted drastically in that simple sentence, Jace putting a sturdy arm around her waist, like he was getting ready to hold her up...

"Clary, sweetheart," Jocelyn began but she couldn't finish. Luke patted her arm lightly, kneeling in front of Clary so he was looking up at her.

"He ran Clare-Bear, a few days after you disappeared. We searched for months but...we never found him." Luke said solemnly.

Clary stared down at him, refusing to believe what he was saying.

"No," She said. "No, no, no, no! He wouldn't! Simon wouldn't do something like that! Something must've happened!" Everyone was giving her sympathetic looks but Clary didn't care. She whirled on Jace and begged, practically clinging to his shirt. "We have to find him! We have to!"

Jace shook his head quickly twice, and then looked into her pleading emerald eyes.

"Ok," he soothed, giving in to her. "Ok, we'll find him."

Alec looked at Jace in shock and tugged him aside roughly, leaving Clary to stare, with renewed hope in her eyes, at her family.

"Are you insane?" Alec hissed. "You _know_ that it's going to be almost impossible to find him after all this time! He's a vampire Jace, that's one thing. But a vampire who can walk in the sun? We have no hope! You _know _that. Why did you tell Clary that we would find him?"

Jace looked at the floor with a hard expression on his face. He didn't want to tell Alec the truth, but if he was ever going to get out of this, then he had no other choice.

"I told Clary that because I can't _stand_ to see her so broken. When she looks at me with those eyes...I can't bear it. It breaks my heart, Alec. I think I can actually hear it shattering in my chest. I'd give anything, _anything_, to keep that look from distorting her features ever again. And if that means trying the impossible, then so be it."

"But Jace," Alec began again, more gently than before, "It's only going to be a bigger disappointment for Clary when you don't find him. She'll be even more broken then before. Do you really want to have to endure that?"

"No," Jace said firmly.

"Then-"

"Then I guess we'll have to find him then, won't we?" Jace finished for him.

"But-" Alec started, but Jace cut him off again.

"I have devoted a year of my life looking for that woman, right there." Jace pointed roughly to Clary. "A woman that I never thought I'd see again. And now she's here, so close I can barely believe it. Do not ask me to watch her suffer Alec, do not." With that, Jace stalked over and put his arm around Clary, who was now discussing with Luke the many places Simon could be hiding.

.

It was dark, cold, and wet wherever he was. Simon lifted his head slowly, unsure of why or where exactly he was. He couldn't remember anything, except that Clary was gone and he was no where near any of the people he loved.

What was happening?

He had just started to regain strength when a hooded figure entered the room, approaching Simon with a flourish of distaste. Simon was unable to get a single word out before the figure was upon him, striking him over the head with what appeared to be a crow bar and knocking him out cold.

.

**Gasp! Simon...gone? Kidnapped perhaps? And right after Clary disappeared....could there be a connection? Hmm....review please! : )**


	8. Interrogation

**Alright, I know some of you are probably all: "Oh my God, What the hell is going on?" In response to how Clary didn't explain what was happening and why she didn't go looking for Jace. And I sincerely apologize for my little mistake here, I meant to include a conversation between Jace, Clary, and Alec (Simply because Alec is cool and I don't think he would give up that easily) in the last chapter but I forgot so now it will be in this Chapter. (Thank you to a fan for reminding me of that) Oh, and you're going to have to wait a bit longer to find out who is behind all this because Clary is so scared and she refuses to give up her information. All will be revealed just not yet :P Ok, just had to get that out there. On with the story.**

Jace sat at the end of the square kitchen table, deep in thought while watching Clary discuss Simon's whereabouts with everyone.

He furrowed his brow at the stare of determination plastered to Clary's face that seemed to be disguising a year of hurt in her eyes. He shook his head, struggling to fathom what could've happened to keep Clary away from him for so long. He had tried to press her in the tent but he couldn't bring himself to. He saw how desperate she was and he couldn't bring himself to hurt her anymore.

But he would have to, he realised with a pang of fear, he would have to if he ever wanted to stop whatever it was that was causing Clary to act like this.

And she would have to tell him. She would have to.

"Jace?" At the sound of his name, Jace was tugged out of his reverie. Once his eyes focused, he recognized Alec staring at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Huh? What?" Jace was still half in his daze.

"Are you ok? You've been staring at the table for the past ten minutes." Alec shifted closer to where Jace sat. He looked, Jace noted, like he settling in for a long conversation.

Jace decided that it was no use trying to hide the situation from Alec. They would all find out eventually anyway. "It's Clary," He began. He could've sworn he saw Alec roll his eyes. "There's something she's not telling us...she says it's because h-" Jace paused, maybe it was best not to give all the gory details. "Because she's been threatened not to do so by the person who took her away last year." Jace was sure that the expression on his face was beyond pained, if the hurt in his voice was any indication, but he didn't care. Not when someone was threatening Clary.

Alec looked momentarily taken aback before he recomposed himself. "Threatened? With what? What could be so horrible that Clary wouldn't even tell _you_?"

"She- she wouldn't even tell me that." Jace's voice was monotone.

"She realises that we can't help her if she doesn't tell anything, doesn't she?" Alec raised an eyebrow in Clary's general direction.

"I think so. But I don't think she cares."

"We have to talk to her. We can't let this go on. We- _she_ could be in serious danger here Jace." Alec straightened in his seat as if that simple action ended the conversation. In a sense, it did because a moment later everyone stood from their bent over positions, settled on how they would split up and where they would search.

Jace opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Jocelyn who had stolen Clary's attention from him. He furrowed his brow in determination and walked up behind Clary only to hear the last of what Jocelyn had said.

"-why I don't want you coming on this mission with us." She said firmly.

"Mom!" Clary exclaimed in exasperation, she was not a child. She didn't need to stay behind.

"But Clary, we just got you back! I don't want to lose you again!" Jocelyn argued.

"I don't care Mom! Simon is _my_ friend. If it wasn't for me, he probably wouldn't even be gone. I have to go." Clary turned from her before she could object and walked right into Jace, whom had snuck up behind her.

"We need to talk." He said flatly, leading her into the library where Hodge had spent most of his time. Alec was there, slumped in a very comfortable looking chair and staring at her intently.

"Before you ask any questions, I took the liberty of telling Alec what's going on." Jace informed her, a note of reluctance in his voice. Clary gaped at him.

"You have to tell us Clary," Alec stated, not giving her a chance to respond to Jace's comment. "We can't do anything if you don't tell us who's doing this to you."

"I don't want you to help!" Clary exclaimed, wrenching her arm away from Jace who had grabbed it reassuringly. "He hasn't bothered me in almost 4 months; I don't think he's coming back!"

"But Clary, there might be more to this than you think. Why was he threatening you in the first place? Did he say?" Alec pressed. Jace was trying to remain silent during this interrogation; it didn't sit right with him.

"No, ok? He didn't tell me anything except-" Clary stopped herself from finishing that sentence. If Jace meant what he had said, then Alec would already know. No need to repeat it.

"Except what?" Alec shot upright, evidently hoping for a breakthrough.

Clary kept her mouth shut, looking at the floor.

Alec stood, walking up to her and using the power of his height and age to hopefully overpower her will, or at the very least intimidate her. "Except. What." He pronounced each syllable carefully.

Clary stared defiantly at him, refusing to open her mouth.

Jace was flicking his vision from her to Alec quickly, deciding to step in. He shoved his way between Alec and Clary, facing Alec. "Ok, I think that's enough. She's not saying anything, at least not now." The he added in an undertone: "Later." He turned to face Clary who had taken to intently examining a tile on the ceiling. "Come on," he said, slightly disappointed that they hadn't made any progress, "Let's go find your vampire."

.

When Simon regained consciousness again, there was no blow to his head as he had expected. No, the room he was in was empty.

But it was dark.

Simon, with his heightened senses could barely make out what appeared to be a bare room with tiled ceilings and carpeted floors. The walls were decayed beyond recognition and the door was glass but it was so thickly coated in grime that it was impossible to see through.

Simon lifted his head, taking in his surroundings and looking for a possible escape. Although he was pretty worn and _hungry_, he still had use (however limited) of his limbs. He tried standing, testing his balance. It seemed fine. He checked his reflexes, also seemingly fine. The only thing was his hunger. It was consuming his mind, nigh taking control of his senses. He needed food; he needed _blood_.

He whirled around more frantically now, looking for an escape and access to blood when he noticed a small plastic container with ruby liquid contents sloshing around inside.

He tore the cover off, downing every last drop of the slightly pungent tasting liquid.

With this renewal, he was able to think more clearly. He needed to get out. There appeared to be no escape...

Except through that glass door.

Should he try it? No doubt there would be guards on the other side...would he be able to take them? How many would there be? If he tried and got caught would that ruin his only chance?

As he contemplated, there was a noise. Small at first, but growing. Simon glanced around in a panic, unsure of what to do. He finally decided to avoid another blow to the head by dropping onto the ground in the same position he had been in when he woke up.

The door squeaked loudly as his captor opened it. Simon didn't dare open his eyes, afraid of being caught.

"Is he still out?" a voice asked, female.

There was silence as Simon heard the now-empty container drop to the ground.

Damn.

"Don't bother escaping, we'll catch you." Another voice, male, whispered directly next to Simon's ear. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. He opened his eyes quickly, only to find that the mystery man was gone, a fresh container of blood replacing the first.

.

Clary stumbled through the thick growth covering the path they were now on. Jace was ahead of her, keeping an eye out for anything that might lead them to Simon. This forest had been a long shot, Clary and him had only been there once but, knowing Simon, he didn't forget.

The search had been going on for a few hours now, with no luck whatsoever. Clary was being more self-conscious than normal this time because of the ordeal with Alec. Speaking of which, he kept throwing her dirty looks every time he got the chance.

Jace had barely said a word the whole trip.

"He's not here." Alec finally announced, exasperated and exhausted.

"I can see that." Jace replied simply.

"No, I mean he's not _here_. As in, nowhere near here. You know as well as I do Jace, there is no way we could find him after all this time!"

"That's not true!" Clary turned on him.

"Watch it Alec." Jace warned.

"I'm just telling the truth. Clary, stop kidding yourself. The vampire is long gone." Alec exclaimed.

"No! We'll find him. I'm back now, there's no reason for him not to come back." Clary argued.

"Alec, let it go." Jace told him sternly.

"Stop encouraging her! We're not going to find him and that's that!"

"Jeez you guys, I can hear you yelling from across the forest." Isabelle interrupted, appearing from behind a patch of trees.

"What is it Isabelle?" Jace sighed.

"Well, now don't get too excited or anything, it's not a guarantee. It's just a hunch. But I suppose it's better than nothing although it would be even more better...more better? Is that right? No, it would just be 'better'...I think. To be honest I'm not really-"

"Isabelle!" Clary exclaimed.

"Oh, right. Ok, now don't get your hopes up but..." she chewed on her bottom lip slightly. "We think that...maybe...we _might_...know where he is."

**Ok, sorry about the delay you guys, I've been super busy...my Nan and Pop's 60****th**** is next weekend so I've got everyone coming out to see them so they visit me and it's just not pretty. Anyway, hope that was up to standards :P **


	9. Realizations

**Yo people, back with another chapter. Something big is gonna happen here! As in something MAJORLY IMPORTANT!**

**Oh, and thanks to Trinity Tate for reminding me that Jace needs to step up and be a man, so to speak :P and stop babying Clary. He's gonna cut that out in this chapter, because of MAJORLY IMPORTANT thing ^**

Clary's heart was beating a mile a minute as Isabelle led her straight to Simon's house. Her curiosity grew with every step, '_What would Simon be doing home?'_

"Well..." Isabelle started as they entered Simon's room. Ever since he discovered he could walk in the daylight hours his room had returned to its normal geeky glory. "Ok, I don't really know how to put this but...here:" She picked up a piece of paper that was lying on Simon's bedside table and shoved it into Clary's hands.

"What's this?" Clary asked as Jace gave it a quick once over from behind her shoulder.

"Just read it," He answered instead of Isabelle when he was finished.

Clary looked down and began reading the neat cursive writing.

_Mom, I'm going to go stay with my friend's for a while-_

The whole sentence was crossed out, and a new one was written underneath it.

_I can't take you yelling at me all the time, it's so annoying! I'm going to-_

That sentence was crossed off too. There was one more final sentence at the bottom of the page that had not been cancelled out.

_Mom, Can't handle whole thing with Clary, running away, goodbye. –Simon_

Clary stared at the paper in her hands for longer than was necessary, rereading the sharp letters over and over to make sure she understood them correctly and that she was sure of what she was seeing.

"That's not Simon's writing." She stated finally, not looking up at anyone.

"We know," Isabelle said, taking a seat on the bed next to Maia who, Clary just noticed, had been there the whole time.

"But that means-"

"That means that someone else wrote that note." Alec finished.

Clary stared blankly at the floor for a moment, letting this all soak in.

Jace stood in the corner of the room, arms folded and exchanging sideways glares with Alec every now and again. He knew that he was being unreasonable, just as much as he knew that Clary needed to spill her guts sooner rather than later. But the one thing that Alec didn't know was the one thing keeping him from dragging it out of her if necessary.

Someone had threatened his AND Clary's life.

"Why would someone else write a note explaining why Simon ran away?" Maia asked as she idly played with a Rubik's cube that was on Simon's dresser.

"One of his friends maybe? Clary, do you recognize the handwriting?" Isabelle asked.

"No," Clary answered, still staring at the ground, "His friends couldn't write this neat."

"So...what could've happened?" Maia inquired, still fiddling with the Rubik's Cube.

"Hang on!" Jace exclaimed suddenly, something clicking in his brain. "Simon disappeared two days after Clary- uh...you know...'died' when we were all too distraught to really notice anything weird about it. He obviously didn't write this note, but who could've? He didn't tell anyone where he was going, and we've already asked everyone we could think of. There's no one else. Besides, we know Simon. He wouldn't just up and leave. There had to be a reason otherwise-"

"Otherwise he wouldn't have left!" Alec finished. "It makes sense now...Someone takes Clary and threatens her to stay away."

"At the same time someone steals Simon away and blames it on Clary's convenient disappearance." Jace had a small grin on his face, they were figuring this out!

"So wait," Isabelle interrupted, "What are you guys saying?"

"They're saying," Clary answered. "That I was never the target; and neither was Jace. It was Simon all along." Clary almost gasped with realisation.

"And who do we know who wants Simon out of the picture?" Jace prodded, his grin growing wider.

Isabelle gasped out loud, jumping up. "Oh my God!"

"Clary," Jace spun around, grabbing Clary by the shoulders. He had stepped forward into the middle of the room during his rant. "You need to tell us what he said, you have to tell us."

"Jace-" Clary began to shake her head but Jace interrupted.

"Clary, this isn't about you or me anymore. We're both safe, I'm safe, you're safe. But Simon's not. You have to tell us what he said and if we're right in what we're thinking now."

"But-"

"No 'buts'." Jace looked at her firmly, determination in his golden eyes. He dropped his voice dramatically, so only Clary could hear. "He's not going to kill me Clary, I'm not his target. You can tell us."

"Hang on a minute!" Isabelle exclaimed from the other side of the room. "What's going on? Who's 'he'? And why's 'he' threatening Clary?"

"Damn," Jace swore under his breath, he'd forgotten they didn't tell Isabelle and Maia about Clary's kidnapper. "Ok Isabelle let me explain..."

.

Simon sighed, cradling his head in his hands. What was he going to do? How long had he even been here? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had to leave. Soon.

.

"So wait..." Isabelle pondered, "This was all a plot? Seriously?"

"Exactly," Jace nodded. "Now all we have to do is bust Simon. Let's Roll."


	10. Decisions

**Alright, just for everyone's information, the mystery man will be revealed IN THIS CHAPTER. As in, you've run out of time! And FYI, only ONE of you got it right. (BTW, the italics part is Clary's memory so we don't have to go through the convo between her and Jace and everyone.)**

_Clary tried desperately to release the scream that was building in her chest as her body was yanked and pulled through the strange vortex. She didn't trust herself to open her eyes as she plummeted to only God knows where._

_Eventually she collided with solid ground, smacking her knee off of a rock._

"_Ow!" She exclaimed, pushing up off of the ground. Looking around, she realised she wasn't all that far from the Institute..._

"_Clary," someone uttered her name like a greeting._

_She turned, expecting to see something terrible, murderous, and completely lethal when, as it turned out, it was only Raphael._

_Clary stared at the vampire warily, what was he doing here?_

"_Raphael?" Clary eyed him. "What are you doing all the way out here?" Did he fall into the vortex too? "I thought you were back at the Dumort?"_

_Raphael chuckled, a hollow, sinister sound. There was something about him that was truly terrifying Clary... "Child, are you simply so naive to think that I am here coincidentally?"_

"_What are you talking about Raphael? I'm going back to the Institute!" Clary turned and began at a quick pace back in the direction of the Institute. She got no further than 2 feet before Raphael was in front of her again._

"_I'm afraid I can't let you do that Clary," He smiled sympathetically._

"_Why not?" Clary made to go around him but Raphael was too quick._

"_Because, that would ruin everything. You see," He took another step closer to her, maintaining eye contact. "I have this little...plot. And you being there is getting in the way."_

_Clary eyed him warily. 'Raphael, I-"_

"_You don't seem to get it sunshine." He snarled, becoming more menacing than Clary had ever seen him. "Stay away from the Institute. Get a new life, new friends, new name, and whatever else you can think of. Because if you don't... Jace dies."_

_._

Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Magnus walked stealthily up to the sewage drain behind the Dumort. Maia had returned to the Institute, claiming that one trip to that hotel was one too many for her.

Clary kept her eyes opened and she glanced around, ready to pounce. The past year she had spent in gyms, trying out for sports teams and general training. She was no longer scared little Clary, and Jace was about to find that out.

They swished through the knee-deep green drain water, everyone flinching when they heard even the smallest of sounds. Eventually, they ended their jumpy trip and arrived in the basement portion of the Dumort. The walls were oozing mould and water pooled in the corners where the bricks met the rotten linoleum.

They passed several rooms, all with common names like: _boiler room_; _kitchen_; _electrical_; _equipment_; and _storage_.

A red flag went up when Clary read the word: _Storage. _She stealthily pointed it out to Jace who nodded and motioned for Alec to follow him. Isabelle took the other side of the door behind Clary. In one great motion, Jace kicked in the door, startling the life out of a certain vampire...

"Simon!" Clary exclaimed, throwing caution to the wind and flinging herself at him.

He sat there, shell-shocked for a few second before wrapping his arms securely around her.

"Clary? How? I mean, oh screw it, I don't care! You're alive!" He exclaimed, standing up. Clary grinned at him, turning to leave when Jace told her to wait. He was looking around the room slowly, examining the doorway like it was about to explode.

"Going somewhere?" A smooth voice sounded from just out of their line of vision. Raphael stepped forward, revealing himself to everyone. "Clary, I see you've returned. Against my warning, might I add?"

"What do you want Raphael?" Jace snarled. There was a scuffle going on outside the door, but he ignored it. "What have you gained from this little trick?"

Raphael sneered. "I didn't appreciate Clarissa's _game_ that she played when we bargained for the Daylighter in the first place. I figured that everyone was happy this way."

"Ha!" Clary scoffed, folding her arms across her chest.

"And what did you plan to do with Simon after all this? He would've escaped from here eventually." Jace rebutted, ignoring Clary's outburst.

"I didn't plan to keep him here long enough for him to discover how. When the situation died down I was going to _dispose_ of him."

"And how were you going to do that? You can't kill him."

"There are other methods." He sneered. "Such as attaching him to a metal weight and letting him drift to the bottom of the pacific."

"Yes because that would've worked _so_ well." Jace rolled his eyes. Sometimes amateur villains could be so naïve.

"I guessed that the rune Clarissa put on him would wear off; if I remember correctly, they usually do. It was only a matter of waiting. I also assumed that Clarissa would bite her tongue for longer than she did."

"Well you assumed wrong, no matter what you or your friends do, we're leaving here with Simon."

"That's what you think!" He snapped viciously. He then lunged forward, taking Jace's throat in the crook of his arm. Jace reacted immediately, elbowing Raphael off of him and flinging him into the wall. Clary responded by pouncing on the infuriated vampire and pinning him to the wall with her dagger jabbed through his shoulder. "Where are your little vampire buddies Raphael? Don't they care for their puny _leader_?" Clary hissed in his ear.

Raphael hissed venomously, tearing himself free from Clary's grasp. "They don't necessarily agree with what I'm doing. They refuse to help." He snarled bitterly. "Although I do have at least one ally in this situation."

"You mean her?" Isabelle yanked a petite female vampire into the room, knocked unconscious. That would explain the scuffle Jace heard...

Raphael let a fierce growl rip from his chest as he launched an attack at the nearest person: Clary, but not before Alec had torn out his Seraph blade, holding it firmly to Raphael's throat. Isabelle took her whip out, wrapping it around his wrists, rendering escape impossible.

"Raphael," Jace whispered authoritatively. It amazed Clary how he could sound so demanding while his voice was barely audible... "You have violated the rules that we have set for peace between our kinds. For this, we have no choice but to vanquish you. Any last words?"

"Stop!" Clary interrupted, throwing herself in front of Jace as he pulled out a blade of his own.

"What?" Jace sounded annoyed, as if he just wanted to get this over with.

"We don't have to kill him." Clary explained. "We can banish him instead."

"Clary..." Jace started to complain, but Clary ignored him.

"Raphael," she addressed the scowling vampire. "You are hereby banished from New York. Leave and never come back." Raphael shoved Alec away from him, fixed his shirt, spat at Jace and Clary, and left without another word.

"So," Isabelle sighed. "That's that. Let's blow." She flitted out of the room with Alec and Simon, after a smile at Clary, following her.

"Where did that come from?" Jace smirked at her, drawing her small body into his.

"I told you Jace, I'm not Clary anymore." She smiled. "I'm a whole lot more than that."

"I hope that dominating attitude goes farther than speaking to vampires..." Jace grinned wickedly, Clary returning his smirk.

"Oh it goes much, much farther." She gripped the neck of his shirt, pulling him in roughly to tangle her tongue with his.

.

After a teary _proper _reunion with Simon, Clary scampered off to Jace's room, preparing for a much-needed sleep. Jace was already there, staring out the window intently, like he was thinking about something.

"What wrong?" Clary asked, running her hands over Jace's shoulders, applying a bit of pressure in an amateur massage.

He remained silent, letting his eyes drift closed and his breathing slow in tune with the motions of Clary's hands.

"Hmm?" Clary insisted, sitting down cross-legged, behind him, moving her hands a bit lower.

"I was just thinking," Jace replied distractedly, exhaling slowly. He felt his muscles starting to relax with Clary's consistency.

"About what?" She continued; placing random light kisses on the back of his neck and shoulder.

He was silent for a long time, pulling Clary down with him onto the bed. She continued to massage his shoulders while he contemplated telling her what was on his mind.

"Clary... I've been thinking. Maybe we should... I mean maybe it would be better if... if we left the Institute." He admitted, dropping his head onto the comforter.

Clary paused her movements momentarily, picking it up again after the initial shock had worn off.

"Where would we go? There really is nowhere..."

Jace rolled over, stopping Clary's movement and facing her directly. He began idly playing with a strand of her fiery hair. "I don't know Clary. But we'd find somewhere; Dominican, Fiji, Hawaii... anywhere. This whole ordeal with Raphael has made me realise how dangerous our...profession really is. I don't want to lose you again." As he said the last line he pulled her down to him, cradling her cheek against his chest.

"Speaking of Raphael...what about him?" Clary reminded him. "He's loose now, if we leave the city he may come after me again... there'd be no boundaries stopping him."

"If you remember my dear Clary, he was never after you. He was after Simon. If you left, there'd be no way for him to use you to get to vampire-boy. You'd be safe..." He trailed as the thought of them finally being secure wandered into his mind. "I'm just thinking that if you were away from all of this chaos, then you might be able to live a fairly normal life. You can't here; if it isn't an attack on Simon, it's a demon terrorizing a local dance club. If it isn't a higher-up coming for an inspection, it's something else. We can never stop Clary; not if we stay here. Even if we quit they'll call us anyway. Our only option is to leave."

"I don't know Jace... what about everyone here?" Clary understood where he was coming from, but she was unsure of whether or not it was the right thing to do.

"I'm not suggesting we run away Clary... I'm suggesting that we... move out, so to speak." He had moved to rubbing soothing circles on her lower back.

"I don't know... I just don't want to think about it right now." Clary finally answered, slowly drifting off to sleep.

"Alright baby, we'll talk about it later."

And they would talk about it later, this Clary knew for sure.

**REVIEW PEOPLE! Ok, Poll: Should Clary and Jace leave? Or should they stay? (Breaks out into: **_**Should I stay or should I go? **_**Because I'm a dork like that :P) Let me know :) Oh, and sorry about all the emails, I had a few issues with this chapter... (Thanks again to Sabs7 for the reminder! Hope the edited version is up to standards :D)**


	11. Drum Roll Please

**OH MY GOD! MAJOR NEWS HERE PEOPLE! Thanks to an avid reader (Irrevocable Love) I am now aware of a FOURTH MORTAL INSTRUMENTS BOOK! :D It's in Simon's point of View and I can't remember the name off hand but I will post it in the next update. Kay people, ready for another chapter? I am! Ok, so by popular vote... well, I'll let you read and find out ;)**

Clary squinted as the sun shone in slits through the blinds. She groaned and arched her back, clamping her eyes shut and twisting her neck.

"Good Morning," Someone mumbled from behind her. She attempted to roll over but the comforter was wound too tightly around her legs.

"Morning," she responded anyway, giving up on her mission impossible.

Jace chuckled, "Stuck?"

"Little bit..." She grinned, embarrassed.

"Here... let me help." He started to laugh, helping release her from her linen cage. Her cheeks began to turn red as his laughter increased while discovering how tangled she really was.

"Oh shut up Jace," She grumbled, sitting up in bed. He fell back onto his pillow, still smirking at her.

"Now, how did you manage that? _We _didn't do anything last night..." He trailed, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Are you suggesting that it may have been someone else?" She looked at him with a sceptical expression.

"You tell me," He replied. "Unless you want your mystery man to live." He hoisted himself up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Did you think about what I said last night?" He asked, rubbing his eyes and standing.

Clary didn't say anything. She just walked over to the mirror, examining her hair. It was still straightened from the day before but she pulled it back into a pony tail none the less. She fixed her shirt and adjusted her pyjama pants. _Decent_, she decided, turning toward the bathroom. Jace stepped in front of her, putting a hand on her hip and the other on her neck.

"Nice, but there's something a little off..." He scrutinized her features for a minute before releasing her hair from the elastic. "Much better; you know I love your hair down."

Clary smiled sweetly, taking his bottom lip between both of hers before going to the door. "You coming?"

"Yes..." He walked up behind her, turning the door knob after pulling on a pair of jeans, leaving his upper half bare. "But you didn't answer my question."

"I know," Clary answered, offering nothing further.

"Is there a particular reason for that?" He pressed, keeping the door firmly closed.

"Yeah... I don't have an answer... not yet. I'm still thinking. Give me until tonight." She pleaded.

He stared at her for a minute longer before sighing and opening the door. She smiled at him gratefully before exiting the room, almost running into Luke.

"Oh, I was just coming to see if you two were awake." He eyed Jace suspiciously. "Jocelyn has breakfast ready if you're interested." He ran his hand through his hair.

"Yeah we're coming now." Clary told him cheerfully just as Isabelle emerged from her room, flitting down the hallway at the promise of breakfast.

"Take your time! I need to get down there before Jace eats it all!" She laughed.

"Well hardy har-har. Aren't you the little comedian?" He smirked, taking off down the hall after her.

Clary stayed behind slightly, deciding to walk with Luke.

"So, how're ya kiddo?" Luke asked with his hands in his jeans pockets.

"I'm fine..." Clary began, not completely truthfully. She was utterly thrown by Jace's question, not sure which way to go.

"Well if you ever want to talk, you know I'm here for you." He smiled encouragingly at her. She returned the gesture only half-heartedly.

"Actually Luke... I have a question." She started, deciding that she could trust Luke.

"Ask away," He replied.

"Ok... say that someone you love... and who loves you..."

"Jace," Luke interjected.

"Um... yeah... well, say that he wanted me to do something... that I didn't really-"

"Clary," Luke exclaimed all of a sudden, his face taking on an expression of astonishment and anger. "If Jace is trying to pressure you into having sex then I swear on the Angel I'll-"

"Luke!" Clary interrupted him; he had started to growl... not unlike a dog... "Jace is _not_ pressuring me into sex!" _Like he needed to pressure me._ She added in her mind. "Will you let me finish?"

Luke visibly calmed down, nodding quickly.

"Ok, so say I didn't really know what to say about what he wanted me to do... say it was a big decision that I didn't want to make right away, but at the same time I wanted to give him an answer as soon as possible because I didn't want him to be upset..." Clary finished in a hurry, afraid that Luke would interrupt again.

He seemed to really think about the question before answering. "Well Clary, the way I look at it is that if Jace really respects you and values you're opinion so much that he asked you in the first place then I would think he'd understand if you need some time to think about what he's asked. But that's just one old wolf's opinion." He shot her a lopsided grin.

"Thanks Luke," Clary laughed, hugged him quickly, and raced off to the kitchen to see if there was any food left after Jace and Alec had had their fill.

Luckily, Jocelyn had become accustomed to serving so many people, specifically teenage boys, extremely quickly. She had made an excessive amount of food for everyone and it didn't take long for Clary to get a plate-full of eggs, toast, bacon, and fried hash browns. She took a seat in between Isabelle and Simon.

Magnus was leaning against the counter, changing the color of his nails every time he blinked. Isabelle and Simon were staring across the table at each other, Alec and Jace were fighting over the orange juice, and Luke had taken a stance next to Jocelyn with his arm over her shoulder.

"So what's the plan for today?" Clary asked around a mouthful of eggs.

"Things have been really quiet since Clary came back," Luke answered. "There's really nothing _to_ do; ergo, no plan for today."

"Who says 'ergo' anymore?" Jace laughed.

"Watch it boy, you're dating my daughter." Luke reminded him, making everyone but Jace laugh. "The point is that you can all basically do what you want today. It doesn't really matter."

Clary groaned inwardly as she realised that this probably meant she would be spending the entire day with Jace. Normally, she would be ecstatic. But this also meant that he would be expecting an answer... and Jace was not the kind of man to be patient.

"Well in that case I'm going out." Isabelle announced proudly.

"With who?" Simon demanded, suddenly looking angry. Clary laughed into her orange juice as the sight. It went everywhere but the look on Simon's face was worth cleaning up a little spill.

Isabelle laughed exuberantly. "Why you of course," She laughed harder at Simon's embarrassed expression. "Well come on, we don't have all day."

"Actually... you do." Alec reminded her. "Don't feel obligated to come back early or anything... or at all for that matter."

"Shut up Alec," Isabelle sneered. "We'll be back around 1."

"This afternoon?" Jocelyn asked disbelievingly.

"No, this morning. I know you function better at night," Isabelle winked at Simon and he smiled back sheepishly.

"Ew," Clary muttered. And in that moment, seeing Simon and Isabelle looking at each other like that... seeing them that happy... she'd made her decision.

.

The rest of the day Clary spent cooking, cleaning, sketching, and anything else that would give her absolutely no alone time with Jace. She was putting off this revelation as long as possible.

Almost as if he heard her thoughts, Jace walked in the room. It was about eight now and she knew that he considered this night, if only to get her answer sooner.

Jace strode over to her and collapsed back on the couch with his legs on the table and his arms spread eagle across the back of the couch, the picture of ease.

His boot was blocking off a corner of Clary's sketchbook. She looked at him pointedly. "Jace," She quirked an eyebrow, nodding her head toward the table.

Jace leaned forward and looked at her drawing, still not removing his boot. "Nice," He agreed, and leaned back.

"Jace," Clary complained, laughing. Jace moved his feet over so Clary could remove her sketchbook.

"Well?" Jace eventually asked. Clary sighed, she knew this was coming.

"Jace..." She trailed. She didn't know how to begin.

"Yes?" He answered suspiciously.

"Ok... look Jace, I know that you're doing this for my safety and I know you're doing what you think is best but..."

"But what Clary?" Jace suddenly demanded. "But you'd rather stay here and get yourself killed? I let you make this decision because I trust you and I want you to have your say. You know as well as I do that I could just pick you up and leave without looking back. I don't want to force you into this and I won't but I want you to think! Think of the risk!" He had shot upright during his rant.

"I am!" Clary exclaimed angrily. "I am, have, will, etc!" She exhaled sharply. "If you would let me finish Jace, maybe you wouldn't be so quick to yell at me!"

Jace stared at her for a minute before leaning back into the couch cushion.

Clary took another breath. "Ok, look. I think that... maybe I..." Taking one more deep breath, she spit it out. "Maybe I agree with you."

Jace stared at her, stunned.

"You're right Jace; we can never leave this life if we stay here. And as long as I can still see my Mom and Luke and Simon and everyone then I don't see a problem with us leaving. It's just that..."

"You're going to miss it here?" Jace guessed.

"Yeah," Clary sighed. "I'm going to miss it."

Jace smiled at her. He was trying to be sympathetic but Clary could tell he was ecstatic. That made one of them.

"And now, the difficult part." Clary sighed in defeat.

"Telling Luke?" Jace guessed with a laugh.

"You laugh while you can," Clary warned. "He might go all wolf on your ass and rip out your vocal cords; or other important body parts..."

And, for the first time since Clary knew him, Jace looked truly afraid.

**Ok, I know that technically it's not the first time she's seen him afraid, but the line works there :P Alrighty then. So yes, they are going to leave. But for those of you who did not want them to leave don't fret. It won't be as bad as you think!**


	12. Goody Shopping?

**Alright, I'm going to warn the people now. There may be a lemon in this chapter... I'll indicate where if you want to skip over it... and if it's not in this chapter then it'll be in the next one. Oh, and there's going to be some sex talk in this chapter... along with lingerie shopping so... you have been warned :P Also, it's my first lemon so be harsh :P **

Clary strolled down the hallway feeling, despite the situation at hand, quite cheerful. She had wanted to move out for a while now... she had just never really considered it until now.

Isabelle and Simon were still out, Luke had taken Jocelyn to lunch, Alec was off with Magnus doing God knows what, and Jace was in the kitchen, of course, eating. Clary decided that she would tell everyone of their news later tonight when supper had been eaten and Luke wasn't so crabby... he usually had a bit more tolerance when his stomach was full.

She had already prepared herself for everyone's reaction. Alec would be in a mixture of disbelief and slight disappointment, Isabelle would be sad because they were leaving, but ecstatic that they were moving in together, Simon would be kind of angry, Jocelyn would be crying; definitely; Magnus would crack a sex joke, and she didn't quite know about Luke... it all depended on the mood he was in.

Her head was already bursting with ideas about locations for their new home... she couldn't wait to discuss them with Jace. But she planned on waiting a bit longer... just to keep him hanging. She had no intentions of going somewhere tropical like Fiji or the Dominican Republic; places like that were too isolated for her. She had plans... plans that involved nothing to do with temperature extremities.

"Hey," Jace greeted around a mouthful of less-sodium potato chips. Jocelyn went on a health-kick when they returned from Alicante; much to the dismay of Luke, Jace, and Alec.

"Hey," Clary returned, settling herself in next to him. "Any plans for today besides eating?" She chuckled as gave her a playful glare. She loved his child-like sense of humour... unfortunately, it also came with his arrogance... but she could live with that.

"Hmm," Jace pretended to think intensely for a minute or so. "Well, my only plans as of now involve our room, a locked door, a closed window, an extremely messy bed and you-" He was abruptly cut off by an amused voice in the kitchen doorway.

"Sorry Johnothan Christopher," Magnus drawled. "You're gonna have to grab a Victoria's Secret magazine and an episode of Girls Gone Wild because I'm stealing your precious Clarissa for the day."

"Umm," Clary was extremely confused. Typically Magnus ignored her, focusing mostly on his relationship with Alec instead. And they had made no plans at all before just now... it was really... _random._

"When was this decided?" Jace asked. It was hard to read the note of emotion in his voice. It could have been annoyance... or disappointment... Clary couldn't tell. She'd have to hear it again.

"Right now," Magnus clarified, grabbing Clary by the arm and dragging her to the door. "We'll be back in a few hours, tell my love dove that I'll be back later with his favourite; he'll know what that means."

"Ew," Jace muttered, shovelling a handful of chips into his mouth and dropping his elbow onto the counter.

Magnus led Clary out the door and into the bright afternoon sunlight. When he was sure she was willingly following him, he dropped her arm and took up a quick stride. Clary's curiosity was blazing now... she had no idea what Magnus was up to.

"So Clarissa," Magnus began. "I know I haven't been the best of friends to you in the short time that we've known each other, so I've decided to make up for that." Clary raised her eyebrows in astonishment. Magnus never did anything like this.

"I know what you're thinking kitten, and no, Alec didn't ask me to do this. But I feel like, since you saved my man-candy, I owe you this much at least." Clary nodded in understanding; she knew this had something to do with Alec. "Now, I have decided that the best gift I can give is my knowledge, I have a _very_ experienced mind you know," he tapped his head, sending pink sparkles flying everywhere.

"O...k..." She agreed slowly. Where was he going with this?

"So let's get to the point shall we?" He clapped his hands together as they rounded the street corner. "I'm sure your relationship with the blond bad-boy is going peachy-keen, am I right jellybean?"

Clary nodded, smiling and still confused. Magnus was being nice and he was asking her about her relationship with Jace. What does one have to do with the other?

"Well, I'm going to act as your... 'advisor' so to speak." Seeing the sceptical look on Clary's face, Magnus laughed. "Not a relationship advisor, you're on your own there muffin. I'm thinking more along the lines of... bringing some flare into your life behind the bedroom door, if you understand me lemon-pop." He winked a cat-like eye in her direction.

"Oh no..." Clary smiled in spite of herself, shaking her head back and forth slowly. "I should've known..."

"Yes, you should've. But that's beside the point. Here we are puddin cup!" He gestured to a small boutique that they were now standing in front of. Clary recognized it immediately as a sex shop. She groaned inwardly. Only Magnus...

"Well what're you waiting for? Let's go, hurry scurry." He ushered her into the shop excitedly. The woman at the counter was tall and blonde with a casual outfit on and her hair flowing freely down her back. She smiled warmly at them when they entered and she immediately left the cash, approaching them with a bounce in her step.

"Hi there, my name is Lillian and welcome to La Boutique Rose. Is there anything I can help you with today?" She glanced expectantly from Magnus to Clary, waiting for an answer.

Magnus took up the opportunity before Clary could graciously decline the offer. "Yes actually, my little bashful bunny here needs to be transformed into a sex kitten for her man." Magnus winked at the woman who nodded in understanding and gestured for Clary to follow her. She was about to when Magnus grabbed her arm again. "I'll just be taking care of some personal interests. Come find me when you've finished. And if you don't have at least one decent set of lingerie by the time we leave here then I'll be forced to buy one for you; and you know my taste, little one, the more flare, the more fu-"

"Are you coming?" The saleswoman interjected, turning to Clary.

"Yes," She nodded, smirking at Magnus and following the saleswoman. She'd never stepped foot into one of these stores before... she didn't know what to expect.

Lillian led her to a large display of silk, lace, and a variety of colors. All of which looked like they wouldn't even cover her pinkie finger, let alone anything else. Although... she guessed that was the idea.

"So... what exactly do I...?" She trailed, hoping Lillian understood her meaning.

"Well, first you need to tell me a little about the man you're seeing. What are his tastes? His personality type?"

Clary thought for a second. "Well... he's very... 'confident'." She didn't want to make Jace sound like a jerk to this woman... she didn't even know him.

"Ok, you're going to have to get a little more into it than that sweetie," Lillian laughed. "Like, is he the dominant one? Does he like it when you take control or does he prefer you being subservient?"

Clary blushed reflexively. "Umm... well he's very dominant in everything he does... not just sex. But... I think it turns him on a bit when I take control..." She shuffled her feet a bit, not at all comfortable divulging information about her sex life with this woman.

"Ok, interesting..." She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Well, in that case, you would need something like this..." She took a corset-like outfit off the shelf and handed it to Clary "And with your red hair it would be better to go with a color like black or green... and taking into account your boyfriend's personality type then I would go with the black." She rooted through a few more racks, handing Clary more hangers with less and less clothes on them. "Ok, go to the dressing room. Show me when you have them on and I'll give you my opinion."

"Oh, and I don't know if this'll help or not, but he likes my hair down," She informed Lillian as she took a step towards the dressing rooms.

"Actually it does, I'll be back in a minute. Go try on the first one I gave you. Oh, and before I forget, what shoe size are you?"

"Seven," Clary replied, locked the stall door, and looked warily at the array of black silk and lace. She took the corset-like outfit off of the hanger and began to strip down. A thought struck her then; did she need to take her bra and underwear off? For safe measure she kept both on, just in case.

"How we doing in there?" Lillian called from the other side of the door.

Clary was sizing herself up in the mirror. The corset was strapless and only covered half of her breasts. The back was laced widely, exposing her back to a high percentage. It closed at the base of her spine, dipping a bit lower than she was comfortable with. As much as she hated to admit it, the ensemble gave her curves that she wasn't aware she had.

She was going to kill Magnus.

"Great," Clary answered Lillian.

"Do you have it on?" Lillian called back. Clary thought that the answer to this was pretty obvious.

"Yeah,"

"Let me see!" Clary pushed the stall door open, peeking outside to be sure no one was around before stepping out. She was secretly glad that the dressing areas were closed off to girls only.

"Hmm," Lillian clicked her tongue as she sized Clary up, pulling at random places to check for fit. "Nice," She finally decided. "But try on the other ones first. Oh, and put these on too." She handed Clary a pair of jet black heels that ran up to mid thigh. The fabric was a smooth suede type of material, just stretchy enough to hug her legs firmly without digging into her thigh.

"They're very sensual products; especially for your boyfriend to remove. He gets to see the accents of your legs and he gets to glide his hands over every inch of them to get the boots off. Also, they are quite easy to remove due to the material. Well go on, try them on."

Clary closed the door again, stripping the corset and pulling the boots on apprehensively. Once they were on and she had the next outfit on (a simple black bra with a bow on each peak and low cut underwear) she decided with a pang of annoyance that the boots felt amazing. She wasn't too fond of the outfit but... the boots she could live with.

"No," Lillian shook her head as soon as Clary opened the door. "Not for you; but the boots look simply booty-licious, so keep those. Go try on the last one."

Clary nodded and returned to the dressing room for the last outfit. It was a corset too but this one only covered half of her breasts and a bit of her upper stomach. The underwear was bordering on boy-cut and had a lace trim that looked like a little skirt covering the top half of the garment but not covering any of her legs. As she examined herself in the mirror, she came, grudgingly, to the conclusion that she looked fantastic and she felt sexy and confident.

Jace was going to flip.

She pulled the door open again and Lillian agreed whole-heartedly, instructing her to dress and meet her in the fragrance section.

About an hour later Clary and Magnus stepped out of the store, both with at least one bag. Besides the lingerie, Clary had gotten some sweet-smelling perfume that tasted good too and hickey/love bite cover up for later use. She'd also grabbed a few other things for herself; such as shampoos and body-washes.

"So cupcake, did you have a blast or what?" Magnus inquired. He had refused with a wink to tell her what he had gotten.

"To be honest Magnus, no matter how much it pains me to admit it, yeah I did." She agreed. She didn't regret Magnus's offer as she thought she would.

"And now for Magnus's 3 part guide to an unforgettable shag," He stated matter-of-factly. _Great_, Clary thought. This is what she had been waiting for... "Rule numero uno: Never let him have what he wants. If you hold out, he's going to suffer and it'll drive him mad. Rule number two: Teasing is a MUST. Let him think he's winning and then assert your power by abruptly changing tactics. It's always a crowd-pleaser. And finally, rule number three: When he's on his knees and beggin please, you give him what he pleads for and much more my newly found fire cracker." Magnus winked and entered the Institute as Clary crept in shyly behind him, trying to hide her blush.

To her utter horror everyone, with the exception of Isabelle and Simon, were back already and here she was walking in with a bag from a sex shop. She hide the bag behind her and crept up the stairs unnoticed, storing it in her closet for safe-keeping. As she closed the closet door another thought struck her; she was going to tell everyone about her and Jace soon... and she was going to tell Jace what she had in mind. Soon.

She felt sick.

Too soon for Clary's liking, dinner rolled around and everyone was sitting comfortably at the table with a heaping helping of Sheppard's pie on their plates. Clary ate hers slowly, chewing longer than necessary on abnormally small bites. This action didn't go unnoticed by Jace and as he deciphered why she was acting so strange, he burst into a highly amused laugh. Everyone stared at him in confusion before he blew it off as something he remembered from a while ago. With looks of suspicion, the group returned to eating.

When all was said and done and people had started to decline seconds, Jace cleared his throat.

"Yo, listen up guys. Clary and I have an important announcement to make." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Clary regretted it for him. Looks of astonishment lit the faces of everyone.

"You are NOT pregnant!" Isabelle exclaimed. Slightly off from what they had originally planned, Simon and Isabelle had decided to come back for supper and leave again afterwards, much to Clary's torture and Jace's amusement.

"You're right, I'm not!" Clary quickly slaughtered that idea. She was sure Luke's eyes had started to shift into something more wolf-like than human in that instant.

"No, she's definitely not pregnant. But you might find this just as shocking..." Jace trailed, letting everyone come to their own assumptions.

"You see... we're um... Jace and I... we're considering... I mean we _are_... umm..." Clary stuttered. This had been the part she was dreading. _So much for the 'new Clary'_ she thought bitterly.

"We're taking a little permanent vacation from Shadow hunting... and New York." Jace clarified.

"What?!" Simon smacked his hand down on the table. Clary had been expecting a few angry reactions from Simon and Luke but she wasn't expecting what happened next...

"Do you know where you're going? If you need money I'd be happy to lend you some!" Jocelyn offered quickly, a smile on her face.

"Ouch Mom, if you wanted me out of the house you could've just said so," Clary mumbled.

Jocelyn let out a tinkling laugh. "It's not that I want you gone Hunny, but this is no life for you. In fact, if you remember, I wanted to keep this from you as long as I could. I'm glad you decided to move on. And you're going to visit of course, so it's not like I'll never see you again." Jocelyn explained, a small tear finding its way down her cheek.

"Thanks Mom," Clary smiled. She then turned to look at Simon who was staring at her in shock and Isabelle who had her hand on his shoulder and was grinning at her knowingly. Then she turned to Magnus who was mouthing his 'Three part Guide' to her again and Alec who was staring at Jace in disbelief. Finally, she turned her gaze to Luke. He was abnormally calm, avoiding everyone's gaze including Jace's and especially Clary's. She sighed. She was going to have to talk to him.

"Luke...?" She began shyly.

He stood without responding, marching out of the dining room without a single glance back. Clary sighed; following him with a look of reassurance to everyone.

Out in the hall Clary caught a glimpse of Luke exiting the Institute. She had only a matter of seconds before he transformed and took off running. She increased her pace until she was almost sprinting when she burst through the front door only to find Luke leaning patiently against a stone column.

"Oh... Luke..." Clary trailed. She hadn't expected him to wait for her. He didn't look at her; he just inclined his head slightly in her direction for the benefit of acknowledgement. Clary groaned inwardly; this was going to be an awkward conversation. "Luke," She tried again. "I'm sorry..."

"I just got you back," He choked. Clary felt her stomach almost fall through her body. She hated herself for doing this to Luke and Jocelyn...Luke more so than Jocelyn. She knew that her mom understood her need for independence but Luke... she would always be his little girl.

"I know, and you're not going to lose me now. I'm not disappearing off the face of the Earth; not like before. You just won't see me every single day." Clary explained. She hoped that he would understand as well.

Luke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "I know kiddo; it's just hard for an old wolf like me to give up his practical pup." He shot her a lopsided grin and Clary almost strangled him in a choke-hold of a hug. When both were satisfied that they each were in good enough moods to re-enter the Institute, they did just that. Jocelyn was talking with Jace about locations and arguing places that were too far, Simon was slumped in his chair, still in disbelief; Isabelle was chatting lightly with Magnus and Alec about when they thought Jace would pop the question. Clary laughed inwardly at this; Jace wasn't the kind of guy to settle down. She had accepted that the day in the green room where they shared their first kiss.

"Hey," Jocelyn greeted as they entered. She placed a sympathetic hand on Luke's shoulder before turning to look at Clary. "Did you two work everything out?"

"Of course," Clary informed her with a grin. "So, what have you two been talking about?" She asked Jace and her mother.

"Mostly places," Jocelyn answered. "I talked Jace out of Miami for...obvious reasons." She raised an eyebrow in Jace's general direction and Clary could almost see the images of her in a bikini flashing through Jace's mind. Sure enough, when she glanced at him he was eying her leg slyly. She glared playfully at him while diverting his attention back to the matter at hand by clearing her throat and pointing discreetly at Luke.

"So Clary, did you have any suggestions?" Jocelyn asked politely.

Clary flashed everyone a grin, receiving some curious stares in response. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded map of the one state that no one had been expecting, not even Jace.

"Salem?" Jace asked, confused and sceptical. "Salem, Massachusetts? You've got to be kidding Clary; we can move anywhere in the world and you choose to move next door?"

"Yeah I do. I don't want to move too far away and you honestly didn't think I was going to give up shadow hunting without a fight did you?" Clary smirked at his dumfounded expression. "There's an excellent Institute in Salem and they agreed to my conditions. I called them while I was out with Magnus today." Magnus winked at her.

"And what are your conditions? Jace asked through clenched teeth. Clary could tell that he wasn't happy about her little trick but he'd get over it.

"That we can stay there until we find a place to live and that we can decline any or all missions that they assign us as we see fit." Clary informed him. Jace seemed to visibly relax as she said the second part. "I've checked around and there are a few job openings around, that plus my savings should be enough to get a down-payment on a place; or enough for a few months rent if we get an apartment." Everyone stared at her, impressed by her thoroughness. Jace relaxed his shoulders and let out a sigh.

"Alright Clary, but we're not getting an apartment. No way. And we're not using your savings. We'll use mine." The table took up a happy atmosphere after all was said and done. Luke and Jocelyn congratulated them both and offered to pay a fraction of the mortgage for the first little while or half of the down payment if they preferred. Simon vowed that he would come and visit all the time, no matter what his mother said. Isabelle was currently discussing paint colors with Clary and Magnus was giving subtle reminders about their venture earlier in the day, all of which Clary understood but left everyone else puzzled.

"You know you two," Magnus would begin, "I hear that cinnamon vanilla is a lovely combination for a candle. Brings spice and flavour to a room, don't you think?" Clary's mind shot back to the body wash she'd bought with that exact scent. She sot a glare at Magnus and Alec furrowed his brow at him; looking as though he might understand as well...

"Well, we're heading off to bed now." Jace announced, hinting to Clary that he wanted to talk to her alone. "We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Goodnight." Jace led her upstairs and into the bedroom where he locked the door and pulled off his shirt, ruffling his silky hair slightly. Clary quickly changed into her pyjamas; deciding to save her 'purchases' for the first night they spent in their new home.

"What's wrong?" Clary asked, curious. "You're not mad at me are you?"

He sighed. "No Clary, I'm not mad. I was just hoping that maybe we'd be isolated a bit more than Massachusetts... that's all. But it's better than here I guess."

Clary smiled encouragingly at him, gliding her index finger from the nape of his neck all the way down to the base of his spine. "Just think of it this way: Either way we live completely...alone..." She began whispering for added effect.

"Alright," Jace growled, seizing her hand and pinning it to her waist while bringing his lips to her ear. "But I get to approve the missions."

Clary smirked; turning to take his earlobe between her teeth. "I wouldn't have it any other way,"

**Ooooooh Clary's turning into a feisty little bee-otch. Like I said, I'll indicate where the lemon starts in the next chapter so you can skip it of you want. Obviously, rating changed .. Again :P Review please!!! **


	13. Hello Goodbye

**And TADA! The lemonyness is here! Dun dun dun DUNNNNHHH! Alright, well let me start off by reminding you of my disclaimer: I own nothing; all belongs to the very talented Cassandra Clare. And let me continue by saying this: Despite the fact that there IS a lemon in this chapter... I am not speaking from personal experience BECAUSE I HAVE NONE. So, in NO way am I suggesting that sex is actually like this, I have no clue either way. I am basing this on other fanfic's I've read and what people have told me. So, and I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT! Ok, on with the chapter.**

A few months later...

Clary smiled graciously at the head of the Institute in Massachusetts. He was a kindly old man named Timothy Greenstein. In the many weeks that Clary and Jace had spent living in the Institute, Clary had become quite fond of Timothy. He had advised them on areas in Salem that weren't, perhaps, the best for them and he had been very helpful on property values. That and he was extremely lenient when it came to missions; just as he'd said he'd be.

Since they had been in Salem, Clary and Jace had been on five missions; all of which centered around a stray demon attempting a raid on a pub or other local hot spot. Clary was fine with the low-key ventures; it gave her more time to sort out her life.

It was late afternoon and Jace was currently waiting patiently in the cab with their belongings while Clary said her goodbyes to the people at the Salem Institute. They were heading to the new place now; all of their furniture had been bought and placed to their liking. It had taken a while them to save the money but with help from Luke and Jocelyn, who were more than happy to help out, and Mayrse and Robert, who sent them a hefty cheque to contribute to bills, they managed just fine.

"I'm going to miss having you two around all the time," Timothy smiled at Clary as he grasped her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. "Even Jace and his overwhelming ego added at least a bit of humour to the day." He chuckled, sending his wither face into a happy expression and combing a hand through his fading brown hair. "We'll see you around kiddo; take care."

Clary smiled again and with a wave she turned on her heel to approach the cab. She suddenly remembered the other goodbyes' she'd had in the past little while; all prompted by Timothy calling her 'kiddo'...

_It was a cold, rainy day in New York that seemed to reflect the atmosphere of everyone at the Institute. Clary and Jace were leaving for Salem that afternoon. All were wracking their brains, making sure that they didn't forget anything._

_As Jocelyn cooked the last meal Clary and Jace would eat at the Institute in a long time, Clary made an important decision. She told Jace that she would be back later and not to worry, there was just something that she had to do. He had raised an eyebrow at her but nodded none-the-less. _

_._

_Almost an hour later Clary was standing in front of a white house with green shutters and a tan pick-up truck parked in the driveway. She'd kept her regular clothing on to save time in case she was told to make a quick exit and never come back. With a deep breath, she raised her fist and knocked on the door._

_Twice._

_Eventually, the doorknob turned and opened a crack, just enough for a pair of pink-rimmed glasses to make their appearance. Clary smiled apprehensively and raised her hand in a half-wave. Kelsey pulled the door the rest of the way open and peered out at her with hard eyes._

"_So, I get the fright of my life, don't hear from you for a month, and then you show up on my door-step acting like nothing's wrong?" She demanded, hand's on her hips._

"_I'm sorry Kelse," Clary apologized. "It's just that everything sort of piled up and I didn't really know how to react so I just did and... ugh, it's a long story."_

"_I got time," Kelsey folded her arms and stared at Clary expectantly. She took another deep breath and explained almost everything that had happened to her in the past two years. When she had finished, Kelsey was staring at her with a look of surprise mingled with horror._

"_So wait a second...you're honestly going to stand there and tell me that you're not entirely human?" Kelsey asked sceptically._

"_Well... yeah." Clary shuffled her feet nervously._

"_And now you're just going to pack up and leave to get away from this psycho world where a lot of people want you dead?"_

"_It's not that they want me dead... it's just that if they ever wanted to take over the shadowhunting world, then I'd be a good target." Clary explained. She knew that she could get into a lot of trouble for telling Kelsey all of this but... she also knew that despite being a bit self-centered and drama-prone, Kelsey was also loyal and trustworthy. "Kelsey, I'm telling you all of this because this could very well be the last time I see you. I've already said goodbye to the people I was staying with when I pretended to live around here so I have no real reason to come back. I didn't want to leave things the way I did so... do you forgive me?"_

_Kelsey bit her lip and seemed to think for a long time. Eventually, she heaved a sigh. "Oh, alright. But you have to promise to write or call me sometimes ok?" She insisted. Clary grinned and hugged her friend. She was going to miss her... Kelsey had been the only one to befriend Clary when she'd been all alone... and Clary would never forget that._

"_I'm going to miss you Claire- oh, I mean Clary." Kelsey grinned. "And by the way... _damn_ that blond hunk of yours was so hot I was _sweating_." She winked at Clary who burst into a fit of laughter._

"_Some old Kelse," She shook her head. "And yeah, I know." Kelsey laughed too and the girls went into a detailed discussion about Jace before Clary announced that she had to go. They hugged again, said their goodbyes and parted ways for the third and final time._

_._

_Back at the Institute, everyone was in a flurry of sad emotions. Clary and Jace were about ready to leave and the reality of the situation was hitting everyone like a tonne of bricks. They were all standing outside the Institute doors and getting ready to say their goodbyes._

_The first to approach Clary was Simon; he smiled sadly at her and then pulled her into a hug, instructing her to call him every single day, even if it was 3 in the morning. He'd be up anyway. She smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to the next person in line who happened to be Isabelle. She almost smothered Jace in a hug before turning to Clary and doing the same._

"_We're gonna miss you around here," She told Clary. "Come back and visit soon!"_

_After Isabelle was Alec who shared an awkward goodbye with Jace and an even more awkward goodbye with Clary. After Alec, it was Magnus who gave Jace a joking salute and grasped Clary's hand firmly. She felt something hit her palm and was about to look at it when Magnus stopped her. "You can thank me later," He whispered, and let Maia take his place. She'd heard of their leaving from Luke and felt the need to come and say goodbye, all the while casting brooding glares and Isabelle._

"_See ya Fray," She said. "Or Morgenstern... whatever it is you go by now," She laughed and went over to stand by Simon. Finally, Luke and Jocelyn came over to engulf Clary in a group hug._

"_Take care of yourself kiddo," Luke told her; slipping her a hundred dollars much the same way Magnus had slipped her God knows what._

"_Luke, you've already done enough. I don't need anything more;" She tried to give the money back but he refused to take it._

"_You're the only reason I saved money Clary, to help you go out on your own. Take it. And call me as soon as you can." He hugged her again and then Jocelyn took over, strangling her._

"_You have to promise to visit as much as you can!" Her mother cried, smoothing her hair. "And if you ever need anything; anything at all; call me."_

"_I will," Clary smiled encouragingly at her._

"_Jace, now don't let her go getting herself killed ok? Take care of her." Luke told him gruffly._

"_I will Luke," Jace laughed. "But as for getting herself killed, this is Clary, I make no promises."_

_With a laugh, Clary grabbed her bag and walked away from the Institute, glancing down into her still closed palm to see a red box of cherry flavoured condoms and a note signed in sparkling red pen. __**My personal favourite, have fun my little sex kitten.**__ Clary started to shake with laughter as Jace stared at her in confusion. She blew it off as nothing; glancing back to see Magnus grinning deviously and sucking on, of course, a cherry-flavoured lollipop._

The cab pulled up in front of Clary and Jace's new home where the mailbox flag was up, indicating that the old owner had the keys left there already. The house they had bought was a three-level, relatively small considering the height, in a low-traffic section of Salem, 2 bedroom on the main level, one bath on the main level and another in the basement, a den in the basement, and an attic accessed by a staircase concealed by a door in the hallway. It was a quaint little house that was just big enough for Clary and Jace.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Come on!" Clary laughed and dragged Jace out of the cab, flinging a twenty at the cab driver and telling him to keep the change.

"Actually you owe me another buck fifty!" The cabbie called but as he watched Clary's excitement as she opened the door to their new home and Jace's smug amusement at her child-like behaviour, he shook his head, deciding that he would waive the last little bit of the fee... just this once.

"Oh my God!" Clary exclaimed as she walked into the house. "This is gorgeous!" She looked around excitedly at the furniture that was still in plastic from where they had only bought it last week. There was a coffee table set, a couch/love seat set and a dining room set. All of which were in a cherry wood design. Even the wooden trim on the couches were cherry wood. The kitchen was only small but it would suffice for cooking purposes. As she explored more, she saw that past the door to the kitchen was a hallway that led to the master bedroom, the guest bedroom, and the bathroom. All of which needed to be painted but she could live with that for now. Their bedroom set had been already set up by Jace who had come in to accept the delivery of their furniture. Clary had bought a simple white duvet and sheet set to go with the black sleigh-bed and dressers. In the basement, there was an old couch that Jocelyn and Luke had donated to the cause and a T.V. along with a bathroom with a walk-in shower.

"Isn't it amazing?" She sighed, collapsing onto the plastic-covered couch. Jace was right there beside her, knifing the plastic open so they could pull it off later.

"Yeah, it definitely is. And it's all ours Clary. Soak it all in," He laughed.

"I will," Clary assured him. Jace smiled at her and examined her eyes carefully. "What?" She asked.

"Shh..." was all he said, gliding his nose along hers until he was close enough that their lips were almost touching, so close that Clary's top lip was tingling with the proximity.

Their eyes were still locked, and even before they were kissing, Clary's breathing had deepened; she suddenly felt that the air she was getting wasn't near enough.

Her lips parted slightly in anticipation, an act that didn't go unnoticed by Jace. He shifted his head forward only slightly more but with that action their lips connected in a soft kiss.

Clary's eyelids fluttered closed as his right hand drifted up to wipe strands of hair from her face, traveling down her neck and shoulder so lightly that, if it weren't for the heat that she could feel coming off of his skin, she wouldn't have even known Jace was touching her.

His hand came to a rest on her hip, pulling her gently closer to him until their chests were close enough that Clary could feel the electricity flowing through their bodies but not close enough that they made contact.

_This had to be considered torture or something_. Clary thought to herself. _Aren't there laws against this sort of sensual abuse?_

Very slowly, Jace's tongue slipped into her mouth, caressing her tongue and teeth with slow movements and gentle touches that truly did it for her; the feeling that engulfed Clary's body at that instant was indescribable. It was like all of her nerves stopped responding, her bones turned to dust and her skin crawled delightfully. It was like weightlessness... only better.

Jace's kiss was so soft, so gentle, so... _loving_ with just an undertone of desire that it made Clary want to break down and cry... he had _never_ kissed her like this before.

Somehow, his hand had moved from her hip to encircle her entire waist, pulling her firmly against him.

And then it was over, just like that. He pulled back enough that their lips weren't touching anymore but his forehead rested again hers and their noses were still touching.

It seemed like forever before Clary brought her breathing back to normal, but it did happen. And when it did, Jace wasted no time in taking advantage of the ability to speak. "I love you," He whispered.

"I love you too." Clary replied, "You're getting a hell of a lot better at this. "My legs feel like they're going to give out on me."

"Don't worry," He chuckled, kissing her nose lightly. "I'll catch you."

Clary smiled. "There's something I have to do." She stated and stood while Jace watched her, puzzled. She walked over to the door and pulled out her stele, marking a simple rune on the back of their door. It faded away instantly but Clary could tell it was there permanently, just hidden.

"What did you just draw?" Jace asked with his eyebrow raised. "What does it mean?"

Clary looked at him and smiled, coming over to plant a swift kiss on his cheek. "It means 'Home'."

.

_**LEMON STARTING HERE SO STOP READING IF YOU WANT TO!**_

It had been a long day of arranging furniture and deciding on paint colors. Clary and Jace were ready to retire to the bedroom, which Clary was almost bursting with excitement about. It felt like her first time all over again. She'd never been so grateful for not having a phone before in her life.

She told Jace that she would be right back and she scampered off to the bathroom with her bag that she'd stored in her closet for the past few months.

Once in the bathroom, she turned the water on so she could shower. Grabbing her body wash and shampoo, she set to work, scrubbing her entire body from top to bottom. After an incredibly long time, she emerged and towel dried her hair until it was just damp and then set to work with the hair dryer. Eventually, after some work with a curling iron, she deemed her hair presentable and moved on to the black silk that still had tags on it.

.

Jace waited patiently in the room for Clary to come back. Was that the shower running? What was she doing in there?

He looked around the room admiringly. He was so proud of the fact that they'd gone out on their own... but he often worried that maybe Clary wasn't as happy about it as he was. However, if he was judging by her reaction to the house then she was ecstatic.

"Ahem?" There was a throat clearing in the doorway. Jace noticed that the shower was off... how long had he been standing there? He turned to see Clary in a white silk bathrobe leaning against the doorway, looking positively radiant.

"Clary?" He marvelled. "Wow... you look..."

She smiled and shook her head. Where had this confidence come from? "You haven't seen the half of it," She winked. Jace furrowed his brow and his eye shot open as she began to undo the knot in her robe.

_Mary mother of God, _Jace thought, _THANK YOU._

As the silky material fell to the floor, Jace's jaw dropped. He was frozen where he stood. _Lingerie? _He gaped._ Dear Sweet Jesus she's wearing lingerie. _He took in her form, all the while resisting the urge to leap across the room, throw Clary to the bed and take her right there. The black corset gave her incredible curves that only he knew she had and the sleek black boots made her legs look a mile long. His boxers were suddenly WAY too tight...

Clary noticed this and laughed. "I'm guessing you're turned on?" She chuckled.

Turned on? Jace had been turned on when he saw how those loose fiery curls framed her striking emerald eyes perfectly. He had been turned on when she began to undo the belt of her silk robe. Was he turned on? No. He was _beyond_ turned on.

Clary smirked at the evil glint in Jace's eyes. She would have to thank Magnus later. Approaching him slowly, she raked her fingers through his hair and trailed her fingertips along the outline of his biceps. He just stood there, staring at her.

"Holy Shit," He breathed. "Where the fuck did you get this and why haven't I seen it before?"

"Magnus," Clary replied, fiddling idly with the chain he wore around his neck, contemplating if she should take it off or not. "Where did you think we went that day at the Institute?"

Jace let out a low groan that sounded almost like a growl. "Damn..." He muttered.

"What?" Clary asked, all the while pushing him back towards the bed.

"Now I actually have to _thank_ the warlock," Clary let out a small laugh as Jace forced her back into the wall. "But I'll worry about that later..." He gripped a handful of Clary's hair at the back of her head and guided her forward until his lips met hers in a feverish kiss.

Clary hitched her legs securely around Jace's torso, arching her body into his. He continued to kiss her fervently until she dropped her legs and pulled back from his lips to breathe.

Jace reached around Clary's tiny body to the back of her corset where he easily found the tie and began to pull at the strings. Immediately Clary gripped his wrist and pulled his hands away. "Um, no." She whispered in his ear. "That's not how this works, remember?"

Jace groaned audibly. They'd been restricted to kissing only while they stayed in the Salem Institute (thin walls) and he was definitely sexually deprived. Clary knew this but it wasn't about to stop her from having her fun. With a dirty little smirk plastered to her face, she gave him a hard shove that sent them both falling onto the bed, clutched a fistful of his hair and licked up his jaw line. She let her lips and tongue wander wherever they pleased; his neck, his collarbone, his ear, and his chest. All the while she was straddling him, grinding against his erection whenever she wanted to be a bee-otch.

As Clary's teeth grazed his pulse-point and her breath tickled his skin, Jace let out another growl and flipped her over, his frustration shining through his actions. He pinned her to the bed, driving his knee between her thighs and burying his mouth in the crook of her neck.

Clary smirked at his eagerness but wasn't about to give in yet. She trailed her hand down his chest and stomach, eventually wrapping her hand around his hard-on and squeezing tightly.

She heard Jace suck in his breath as Clary started giving him a hand job through his boxers. He dropped his forehead onto her chest. She only stopped when he was panting so hard that she thought he was suffocating.

"Now..." She whispered huskily into his ear. "How does this work?"

Jace groaned in defeat and rolled off of her, breathing heavily and wincing as if he was in pain. With a too-simple kiss on his lips she trailed a pattern of hot kisses down his chest and over his abdomen where she took a few nips here and there; it was his weak spot. All the while he was letting out groans and growls that egged her on.

When she got to the waist band of his boxers she paused for a minute... wondering if she should go so far as to torture him. Briefly enough that she had to laugh, Magnus's three-part guide popped into her head. What was she thinking? Of course she should torture him.

Jace's boxers hit the floor and she stared at him with confident eyes as she slipped the cherry-flavoured condom on him; he gave her an odd look before he was forced to throw his head back and bite his bottom lip fiercely to stop from screaming.

Clary had taken the whole of him in her mouth.

Although he was nearly choking her; she ignored it. Bobbing her head up and down at a fast pace until she was sure he was about to burst. Only then did she abruptly stop; pulling her body in a cat-like fashion up until she was face to face with Jace. He was panting wildly like he wasn't getting enough oxygen.

"You...wicked...little-" He breathed but Clary hushed him with a French kiss.

"You said you liked torture," Clary cooed back. "Well baby, you're suffering now."

Jace groaned her name in frustration which gave Clary a satisfaction that she couldn't describe. She began to explore his body with her hands once again...

All of a sudden her wrists were locked in an iron grasp and dragged above her head so far that she actually shifted forward a good foot or so. When she looked, she saw Jace with a smug look on his face as he pinned her to the mattress yet again.

"You didn't think I was giving up that easily?" He growled and ran his lips down the length of her body, stopping at the top of her left boot. "Hmm... Suede. Nice." With that he gripped both sides of her thigh and started to glide his hands down, followed by his teeth. When both boots were thrown in the corner and Clary had her knee hooked around Jace's hip, he grazed her spine lightly, pulling the strings of her corset and releasing the pressure on her body. She let out a small sigh and kissed him gently but with building passion. He bit at her lower lip urgently, requesting entrance which she gladly granted. Their tongues fought for a while, eventually ending their feud when Jace moved to suck and bite at her neck.

Clary's breathing was starting to escalate when all of a sudden Jace chuckled darkly and his lips went to her ear.

"Now it's your turn to suffer," He whispered. With the swiftest motion Clary had ever seen; he had one of her breasts in his mouth and the other was cupped by his hand. She gasped and then moaned his name loudly; abusing the fact that they were the only ones in the building.

With this new thought in mind, Clary almost laughed with joy. She brought Jace back up to her mouth and kissed him; rolling him until they were both tangled in sheets and then they fell off of the bed to a heap on the floor. Jace laughed at her sudden frisky nature and let them lay on the floor, switching from kissing to biting frequently.

Eventually, the sexual deprivation got to the both of them and Jace wasted no time in picking Clary up and positioning her so that she straddled him. With a firm kiss and Jace's hand running up her leg, Clary didn't bother waiting for Jace's go ahead. She brought herself down and rode him until they were screaming each other's names.

After they came down from their highs, Clary removed herself from Jace's hips and lay down next to him on the floor. Jace let out a breathless chuckle and then picked her up, placing her back on the bed and then lying next to her. She ran her fingers through his hair and placed a single kiss on his shoulder. She was done playing. All the animal instinct was gone and all that was left was love and gentleness. Jace placed a soft kiss on her stomach and gathered her in his arms, raking his fingers slowly through her hair and kissing her gently. She cupped the back of his neck in her palm and he held her body firmly to his.

"Welcome Home," He whispered.

**Ok, I can guarantee you that that probably sucked a*s. But either way, if you guys give me suggestions then I might reload this chapter... but anyway, I'd be happy to get feedback!**


	14. Night Knocker

**Ok, new chapter is HERE! Now, I'm not sure how much longer this story is going to run but I have at least one more idea in my busy little mind here so we'll see how it goes. Anyway, I would just like to take a second and mention some things:**

**The name of the fourth Mortal Instruments book, Simon's POV, to be released in March of 2011 is City of Fallen Angels.**

**There is a new website up and running by a fellow writer (Salaphina) It's an awesome RPG Mortal Instruments site and it would be worth your time checking out. You can be pretty much anything you want. (Come on people, we need some more werewolves. So far, I'm the only one!) The URL is: ****http://shadowhunterrpg[dot]proboards[dot]com/index[dot]cgi**

**So anyways, on with the story!**

Clary awoke the next morning with sore muscles and hopelessly tangled in bed sheets. There was a comfort that lingered in the room that somehow seemed to come from the feeling of cotton pulled taught against skin. She was sure that if she moved, she would ruin the perfect morning so she let herself relax, closing her eyes again and measuring her breathing.

Eventually, Clary decided she had to get up. The antics of last night were still visible in the display of her corset flung carelessly to the floor, in the way her suede boots were propped precariously against the wall, in the way her hair was ruffled in all directions, and lastly in the way the smell of fresh coffee and breakfast sandwiches wafted up from the kitchen. Clary smiled; Jace always cooked the morning after they had their fun.

Slipping on her white silk bathrobe (another profit of her adventure with Magnus) she drifted lightly down into the kitchen where, sure enough, Jace was leaning on the counter with a spatula in hand and whistling a tune she didn't recognize.

"Someone's happy," She announced, coming over to hip-check him lightly. He raised an eyebrow at her in amusement at her futile attempt to knock him over.

"Hmm," He pretended to be very deep in thought for a few moments. "I do ever so wonder why that is. It couldn't possibly be the fact that I'm stunningly attractive, live with the love of my life, and that I just got laid could it?" Clary rolled her eyes at him. Typical Jace.

"So what's the plan for today?" Clary asked after stealing a piece of bacon from the paper plate on the counter. They were holding out on real dishes for a while until they go settled. Paper and plastic was fine with them.

"I think I'm going to do some painting today. I hate the color of the basement." Jace replied. "It looks like recycled baby poop."

"How do you even know what that looks like?" Clary asked in disgust. "You know what, don't answer that. Painting sounds like fun. I'm all for it. But first I have to call Luke and Jocelyn. They'll want to know we're all settled."

"And how, my dear Clarissa, do you plan on doing that without a phone?" Jace quirked an eyebrow.

Clary whipped out a small, square device from her robe pocket. "Cell phone," She snickered, dangling it in front of Jace. He scowled and turned back to his cooking.

Comfortably snuggled into the couch, Clary sifted through the list of names on her contacts list. Finally she found Jocelyn and hit the send button. Only one ring went in before her mother's ecstatic voice appeared on the other end of the line.

"Clary? Is that you?" She sang. Clary resisted the urge to laugh. He mother's eagerness to speak with her was expected and so completely Jocelyn.

"Hey Mom," Clary responded. "We're moved in!"

Jocelyn sighed happily and in relief. "Oh that's wonderful Clary! I'm so happy for you! Does the house need much work?"

"Not too much. We need to paint and the living room couches are still half in the plastic but they're in their right places anyway. Other than that not really. Cleaning; but that's kind of obvious. How's everything going back there?" Clary took a throw pillow and brought it into her lap so she could properly fiddle with the fabric.

"Oh we're all doing fine. We miss you two; things just aren't the same without you or Jace... A sarcastic comment isn't nearly as funny coming out of Luke's mouth compared to Jace's." Jocelyn laughed.

"Oh God," Clary laughed. "I can imagine. Where's Luke anyway?"

"He's with the pack. They got a new member today so he's laying down the law." Jocelyn chuckled.

"Oh... ok. How's Simon? I feel so bad leaving him again after just getting him back."

"Oh he's fine. In fact, he's already got plans to come and visit you in your new home. When it's finished of course," The smile in Jocelyn's voice was evident. "And no doubt we'll tag along. We'll make it a group trip."

"Sounds like fun mom," She started but suddenly heard a crash in the kitchen. She silently cursed, "I have to go Mom. Jace needs me in the kitchen before he sets fire to the house."

"Wait Clary there's something that I wanted to-"

"No time, see you later, love you!" Clary finished her conversation quickly. She wasn't happy about cutting her mother off like that but it was slightly necessary. If she had any indication as to what might be going on in that kitchen, she may not have a house for her mom to come and visit.

When Clary walked back into the kitchen, Jace was still where she had left him. The only difference was that one of the pans was in the sink, still smoking, and there was a tiny dent in the floor. She smiled, shook her head, and took a paper plate out of the cupboard, beginning to make herself a breakfast sandwich. Jace continued to whistle and occasionally bump Clary in the elbow as she tried to spread the Miracle Whip. Eventually he got to her and she dropped the knife on the counter, sending Miracle whip everywhere.

"Nice," Clary muttered. "You're an ass you know that?"

"Why yes, I do have a nice ass. Thanks for noticing." Jace grinned wickedly, Clary just glared.

.

Clary sighed as she collapsed back onto the couch. It had been a long day; she and Jace had spent the entire day painting. Well, Clary had been painting. Jace had been complaining that it was woman's work.

They had managed to get the basement done in a nice light brown that resembled oak and had a color picked out for the bedroom. It was going to be a long time before they were able to even _think_ about other stuff... like a car. They needed a car; badly. Cabs were expensive in Salem and they couldn't walk everywhere... sometimes it was just too far. But that would have to be put on hold until the house was done.

Jace plopped down on the couch next to her, equally exhausted. He could've slept... if it wasn't for the fact that Clary would wake him up and tell him to get back to work.

"God I'm tired," Clary exhaled slowly, letting her head fall on Jace's shoulder. Or not, he thought with a smirk.

"You can't be tired already," He whispered, running his hand around her back and over to her side where he proceeded to glide his palm up her inner thigh. "We haven't even made it to the fun stuff yet..."

"Don't you think we had enough fun last night? I'm beat." Clary complained with a smile. She pulled his hand up to her mouth, kissed each of his fingers, and pushed herself off of the couch. "I just have to run to the grocery store and then I'll be back ok?" Jace groaned, but nodded. He let his head fall back onto the pillow and close his eyes in exhaustion. Clary grinned, shaking her head, some things just didn't change. She turned and walked out the door, continuing to the grocery store around the corner.

Once in the aisle she was looking for, Clary relaxed and tried to take her time. She wasn't going to go on a frozen dinner spree like Jace had suggested they do. She wanted real food; not flash-frozen crap.

There was a wide array of fresh herbs displayed in front of her. She was just going through them and picking out some cilantro when a familiar voice called from across the aisle.

"Clary!" It called. Clary turned to see Jordan, a boy living at the Salem Institute, running towards her. She smiled at him placing the cilantro and another bundle of parsley in her shopping basket.

"Hey Jordan, how are you?" She started walking again, towards the fruits, and Jordan fell into step beside her.

"Good, good; and yourself? You guys all settled in?" Jordan had a mountain of cookies and chips in his cart, most likely he was making a shopping run for the Institute and everyone had, of course, given him specifics.

"We're getting there, slowly, but we're getting there." Clary sighed, examining a bag of apples. "We just finished the basement so we'll be moving on to the bedroom next. We're kinda going out of order but that's alright," Clary laughed. She had wanted to do the living room after the basement but Jace had insisted.

"Fair enough," Jordan agreed. He glanced briefly at the fruit Clary was throwing in her cart with little interest. "The house up for visitors yet?"

"Not even close," Clary responded. She was finished in the fruit and veggie section and was about to move on to the canned goods when she saw the silhouette of a man standing in the far corner of the little store. He had his shoulders hunched, his legs locked into position, his hood up, and his hands in his pockets. Clary stared at the strange man for a long time before she was able to shake herself out of the trance. "Hey Jordan," She looked at him to make sure she had his attention, pointing back to where the man was. "Do you notice anything weird about that guy?"

Jordan squinted over in the direction of her finger for a long minute, twisting his head in different directions. "What guy? I don't see a guy?"

Clary sighed impatiently and turned back to the corner. "Right there..." She trailed. The man was gone. She scrunched her brow. "Uh... never mind I guess." Clary pushed the cart along, still puzzled over the experience she had just been through.

"Alright then," Jordan chuckled. "I gotta go; still about... oh I don't know... fifty or so different brands of food on this list so I better get to it. Maybe I'll drop by at some point when the house is done. Give us a ring and we'll make a party out of it."

"Sure thing," Clary grinned as Jordan scampered off down the chips aisle with his feet on the edge of the cart so he was riding it almost the entire way.

It was a while before she was able to bring herself to leave the store. She was half-hoping she might run into that man again; just to prove that she wasn't losing it. No such luck. She was convinced that she had seen someone...

Deep in thought, Clary was almost completely unaware of her walk home. She would've been totally unaware had it not been for the strange noises coming from the alleyway she was now passing.

Glancing into the darkened depths of the street, she noticed three men standing in the shadows. For a fleeting moment, she thought that one of them might be the man she was thinking about; she was proved later that she was wrong. They were all too short and not one of them had the right build to be the man she saw. Sighing and about to leave, she noticed one of the men pull out a switchblade and start to approach her. She groaned in boredom.

"Hey little lady," He sneered. "Why don't you come on home with us? We got something that'll make you squeal like the puny girl you are."

"I dunno Donnie," A second man laughed. "I doubt her tiny little frame could handle the slammin' we're about to give her."

Clary rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," She warned in a voice laden with disinterest. A unanimous chuckle resounded through the group and Clary even let a little smirk appear on her own mouth. She slipped her hand into her jacket pocket and stuck three of her fingers out so they protruded from inside the fabric, creating the illusion of a gun.

"Damnit!" The first man swore. "The fucker's got a gun! Let's bail!" The men took off at a run down the street while Clary laughed at their stupidity. She resumed her walking.

.

Once home, she was surprised to find that Jace had already begun painting. His t-shirt was coated with specks of the gold color they had chosen to paint their bedroom. Clary had been set on getting some shade of gold to match Jace's eyes; but she had never told him her reasoning.

She ditched her bags in the kitchen and crept up behind Jace, trailing her index finger down his spine when she was directly behind him.

"Mother eff..." Jace groaned as Clary's fingers worked over the contours of his muscles. "Clary, _please _don't do this to me when I'm working..."

"Why?" Clary cooed. She ducked under his arm so she was facing him, trapped between his body and the wall and being extremely careful not to get paint on herself. "Having trouble..." She placed a single light kiss on the corner of his jaw. "...Concentrating?"

"Please," Jace scoffed, acting as though he was unaffected by her proximity. "I'm Jace Lightwood, the only way I could lose concentration is if you were topless, dancing around a pole." There was a slight tremor in his voice that only Clary could possibly noticed, giving him away. Clary laughed.

"Well, _Jace Lightwood,_" She pronounced his name carefully, and very drawn out. "I guess there's no reason for me to be up here then," She chuckled at the look of pain on his face that he tried desperately to hide. "I'm gonna go finish unpacking the basement. Good luck," She added as she glanced around the room.

The basement, walls looking fresh and reeking of paint fumes, was filled with half-empty boxes of stuff she rescued from her old house and Luke's apartment. It was a combination of Clary's old artwork and baby stuff. She had no idea what to do with the magnitude of memories that they really had no room for. Maybe she could give them to Jocelyn for safe-keeping...

BANG! Clary nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden sound. It appeared to come from the far corner of the basement. There was a subtle disruption in the dust, causing it to swirl upwards. Clary furrowed her brow in cautious curiosity. She approached slowly, never tearing her gaze away from her destination.

She tripped over a smaller box but that didn't deter her. The dust had settled again and there was no movement coming from the corner. As she inched closer, she thought she saw a black spot moving just out of her line of sight.

Carefully, she reached out a hand and shoved the box out of the way, just as an object came propelling out from behind it and straight for her head.

She screeched and ducked out of the way as the bird circled the room, cawing and flapping its wings in a frenzy. Clary sighed and shook her head, opening the window wide so the bird could escape. It watched her warily for a while before deciding this wasn't a trap and fluttering rapidly into the sky.

"You're paranoid Clary," She told herself sternly, stacking the boxes in a corner to be dealt with another day. "Get over it."

.

That night, at around three or four o'clock in the morning, Clary awoke for no apparent reason, and that's why she figured that something was wrong. The bedroom was silent, except for Jace's persistent snoring. The door was still wide open (to let the paint fumes out), the window shut. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary; Clary was about to shake it off as paranoia again when she remembered what had woke her up in the first place.

There had been a knock at the window.

Immediately Clary contemplated the option of a branch swaying in the wind. The one problem with her theory? There were no trees around their house. Perhaps a confused bird had flown into the glass... that was possible. She'd already had one bird that day, why not two?

But there was something in the way the thing had knocked, the way it rapped several times against the window pane instead of just one loud thud, that made her fear it was something worse than a bird. Maybe Jace had been wrong. Maybe Raphael wouldn't give up just because Clary was no longer tied to Simon and maybe that was him outside their window, plotting to take his final revenge.

Somewhere during her thoughts Clary realised that Jace's snore's had stopped and so had his breathing for that matter. He was awake, and tense. Just like her.

She tilted her head to see his face, only to find that he was doing the same. Their eyes connected and they both nodded, silently agreeing to get up.

Clary rolled lithely out from under the duvet (and half of Jace's limbs), slipped over to the dresser, opened the top drawer, and drew out the dagger that she had passed as a letter opener with Kelsey. To her left, Jace was rooting through his own drawer, pulling out a variety of weapons that Clary gaped at for a good minute before he realised she was staring.

"What?" He whispered. "Doesn't hurt to be prepared,"

"There's a difference between prepared and psychotic!" Clary whispered back, closing her drawer and taking a position to the left of the window. Jace took one on the right and they waited for another knock. Almost as if the mysterious figure could read their thoughts, another knock came and Jace pulled the window open, grabbing the figure by the arm and hauling him into the room. Clary only managed to catch a brief glimpse of their intruder before he or she was on the floor in a mad scuffle with Jace.

The sound of clashing metal filled the air as Clary tried to find an opening to help out. The two people were fighting too harshly and vigorously for her to help, for fear of accidentally tackling Jace. Finally, when one figure with golden hair was flung into the wall, leaving an impression in the paint that they would have to re-do, Clary pounced, grabbing the mysterious person by the scruff of their neck and pinning them to the highboy.

Jace picked himself up off the floor and quickly ran to Clary's side. She was gaping openly at the figure, recognizing him immediately.

It was the man from the grocery store.

There was no doubt in her mind that that was who she had pinned. He was wearing the same sweater, he had the same build, and there was the same suspicious air around him that out her off in the first place. Yes, this was the same man. Now what was he doing here?

"Ok, who the hell are you and why the hell are you in our house?" Jace snarled.

The man, hood still drawn around his pale face, smiled. The smile was knowing and sly, not a comforting gesture in the least. When he opened his mouth to respond, Jace's grip tightening around his blade simultaneously, the voice was hideously similar to a man she knew all too well, and a man they had left New York to avoid. The word he uttered confused and scared Clary, causing her shoulders to further stiffen and her grip around his neck to tighten.

"Raphael..." He hissed.

Clary and Jace stared in shock at the man. He looked nothing like Raphael and yet they both bore the same quality that made them so terrifying. It was then that Clary realised what he was, dropping him immediately as the thought struck her.

"Vampire," She growled, taking a step back. Jace didn't make any movement, just stared. Clary could see the surprise on his face and guessed that he was rethinking this move, maybe realising that it was not safer here after all.

"So sorry to scare you," The man apologized, straightening and pulling back his hood. His eyes were a piercing green, almost like cotton candy in their lightness, and his face was smooth like a polished rock. A mess of white-blond hair sat on his head and Clary noted that, had she not known what he was, he might've been very attractive. "But I figured you might not open the door for a vampire after your recent experience." He spoke with eerie fluidity that engulfed the room in a chill.

Jace was still glaring at him, his grip tight around his blade, when Clary finally found her voice. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

The vampire regarded her with a genuine smile, trying, she supposed, to show that he was friendly. "Terribly sorry, allow me to introduce myself. I am Montrose, call me Monty. I'm sure you've heard of me?" When both nephilim (I probably didn't spell that right) were silent, he continued. "Well, no harm done if you haven't. Obviously you know Raphael and I suppose that's all that matters."

The room was still silent; Clary a safe distance from Monty, Jace ready to strike should this vampire step out of line. Seemingly oblivious to the hostility, Monty continued his speech. "I'm sure you're aware that Raphael was not the true leader of the vampire coven? Well, guess who is!" Monty laughed, a sharp sound that seemed to carry throughout the house. "I'm here on behalf of the entire coven, a spokesperson if you will. I wish to deeply apologize for Raphael's actions."

Clary's shoulders slumped. She had not been expecting _that_. It was as if the entire world had done a 360 and now she was stuck somewhere in the middle, trying to distinguish between reality and fiction. A vampire was apologizing to her? After all of the torture she had been put through, they thought a simple _apology_ was going to fix all that? She didn't think so.

"You're sorry? You're _**sorry**__?_ Oh, well in that case everything's alright! Maybe we should get together for tea sometime and that will make everything better!" Clary ranted, throwing her blade onto the dresser with such force that she feared it would leave a dent.

Monty regarded her calmly and with slight amusement. "Oh, I know a simple word means next to nothing to you Clarissa, and I am sorry again that I can't do more. But despite what you may think, we vampires are not all bad. We were human once you know, we still feel remorse. And what Raphael did reflects the entirety of us. We wish to offer you our sincerest regrets, and if you ever need anything, be sure to see me." He nodded at Jace, who gave a slight incline of the head back, and approached Clary. "My dear, we cannot give you a year of your life back. I'm aware that you will probably never look at us the same way again, but I do wish you would consider forgiveness. After all, to forgive is divine." He grasped Clary's frozen hand, raised it to his lips, gave it a quick kiss while lingering, ever so slightly, at her wrist with a blackness in his eyes that only a practised person would notice, before dropping it suddenly and retreating towards the window. "Goodnight my friends, if I may indeed call you that, I am sorry I interrupted your morning. I can guarantee this will be the last you see of me or my coven; unless of course you request otherwise." He winked, and with that departing gesture, disappeared into the night.

The room was still for a long while before either Jace or Clary could bring themselves to move.

"Well, that's great." Jace muttered, "I'm living with a vampire magnet. Do you have a sign on you somewhere that only they can see or what?" He dropped his blade back into his drawer while Clary still stood frozen in the middle of the room. "Clary?" He approached her still form quickly, taking her shoulders in his hands. She felt cold to the touch, and her eyes were fixed on a corner of the room. "Clary? What is it? What's wrong?"

Clary's eyes finally focused and she was able to see Jace semi-clearly in the early morning light. "Call Simon," She whispered. Jace looked confused for a long moment until Clary snapped at him: "Now! Call him now Jace!" He looked at her for a second longer before snatching her cell phone off of the dresser and heading into the hallway. "Tell him to get his ass up here ASAP." Clary turned toward the window as Jace dialled, staring into the night as she cradled her wrist, the faintest trickle of blood seeping from the bite mark now appearing on her skin.

**Hey you guys, sorry this chapter took so long. I was out with the Swine for a week and then I got the stomach flu two days later. It wasn't pretty. Anyway, I hope it was worth the wait. And btw, if any of you are wondering where I got the name: Montrose (pronounced mon-tr-osse) it was my great grandfather's name. I know right? : P Okays, press that button and leave a review or Monty will come after you! (Woot! Yay for rhyming!)**


	15. A Little Pink Plus

**Ok, this is the new version of this chapter. I hope those of you who've already read it will take the time to read this one instead (IT'S MUCH BETTER!) Ok, voila!**

Clary sat herself down on the bed while she waited anxiously for Jace to re-enter the room, hopefully with reassurance that Simon would be here soon. She was uneducated in the traditions and rules of vampires, but she knew enough to know that being bitten by one was typically not a good thing. She wasn't about to take a chance with her life, so she did the only thing she thought she could do.

Call Simon.

Jace rushed back into the room, cell phone in hand, and threw it down on the dresser. He pushed the hair away from his face and approached Clary quickly, grabbing her by the shoulders and standing her up.

"Clary, what the _hell_ was that?" He demanded. "I've got Simon in a panic now because I can't tell him what's wrong, Jocelyn is in near hysterics because she was there when I called, and I'm pretty sure Luke is about to do something illegal to me because he somehow blames me for this!" Jace ranted. Clary just stared unseeingly at him and waited for Simon to show. He shouldn't be too long; they were only one state over. Jace continued to talk but Clary wasn't hearing him. She knew that there was a greater reason for her panic but she couldn't put her finger on it. There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was very, _very _off.

"Clary!" Jace shook her to bring her back down to Earth. "I swear on the Angel if you don't tell me what's wrong this instant-" Jace stopped as a single tear ran down Clary's face. His brow scrunched and he looked more frustrated than ever. Clary knew Jace didn't handle tears well. He struggled with himself to calm down and then he was hugging her, very rigidly and with some difficulty, but hug her he did.

"Clary..." Jace whispered, trying for a more soothing tone. "I'm sorry. I- I just can't stand not knowing what to do. If you told me what was going on..." He trailed. Clary sighed into his shoulder and pushed back. Jace was staring at her in anticipation. She slowly brought her hand up and displayed the bite mark to him reluctantly. Jace was silent for a long time, shaking with rage.

"That son of a fucking BITCH!" Jace growled, shooting upright and stomping over to the dresser. Clary was tempted to laugh at his violent reaction but something was taking the humour out of the situation. It then registered to Clary what Jace was really doing.

"Jace?" Clary called to him. He ignored her, still muttering something about a vampire. "Jace!" He turned his head only slightly to acknowledge she was there. "What are you doing?" She asked him. He continued to root through drawers, shoving blades and weapons into his belt. It was then that she noticed he was in full shadow-hunting gear.

"I've had enough of these _downworlders" _He sneered the word,_ "_messing with you Clary! I'm done with it! I'm going to teach them a lesson they won't fucking forget! I'm not letting them get away with hurting you anymore. This has gone on _way_ too long."

"What are you talking about?" Clary demanded. "You _just _called Simon and told him to get up here! We can't leave now! Do you know what kind of outbreak would happen if we up and disappeared after a call like _that_?" By the time Clary was finished her rant, Jace was standing with his back to her, breathing heavily but at the same time, not breathing at all. He turned to meet her gaze in a look that told her everything she needed to know about his solution to the problem she'd just proposed. The air left the room in a rush as Clary finally realised what he was suggesting.

"No..." She breathed. "No Jace, _ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!_" Jace ignored her scream, attaching another blade to his belt. "Jace, you're not seriously suggesting going into the Dumort _by yourself_ are you?!" When she got no response yet again, her pleas grew angry. "Jace this is suicide! Pure suicide; that's all it is! You'll be killed if you go there alone!"

"I won't be killed, I can handle it." Jace told her, pulling his shadowhunting shirt over his blond locks. There was no sense of reason in his golden eyes, he was going through with this; that much Clary could tell. Jace could be stubborn, but so could she. She was not about to let this go.

"Jace, I've seen what you can do. I'm not denying your capability but not even _you _can take on that many vampires at once! It's crazy Jace! Just wait for Simon to get here, we'll explain what's going on and we can get the others to go with us to the Dumort and straighten this out. I'm not trying to put you down Jace but you can't do this!"

Jace was silent for a long minute; Clary panted from her speech, waiting for him to make a sound, a move, _anything_ to let her know that she was getting to him. "Valentine could do this." He whispered eventually. The blood drained from Clary's body as she processed his carefully chosen words. It was like a thousand bells had gone off in Clary's head and she couldn't hear anything except the pounding of her ears.

"_What?_" She whispered in disbelief. Jace approached her then, keeping his eyes in firm contact with hers. They were blank, empty, and void of all emotion except for the one that she prayed not to see there: determination. Determination of any kind plus Jace equalled a lot of people disappointed; not usually her included. Jace almost always got his way; she was living proof of that.

"I said: 'Valentine could do this.'" He replied with vigour. "Valentine wouldn't back down from something like this. Do you think that if, back in the day, your mother had been in the same situation as you, that Valentine would've let this go on as long as it has? No! He wouldn't have. He'd have taken this into his own hands and fought for his wife!"

"HOW THE HELL DID VALENTINE GET INTO THIS?!" Clary demanded angrily. "Valentine was a dictator! He was like a fantasy version of Hitler, Jace! Valentine would've sent some poor defenceless creature as a bribe to the vampires to leave my Mom alone! QUIT COMPARING YOURSELF TO THE FUCKING ESCENSE OF EVIL! Jace, you're so much better than Valentine! I know you can find another way besides _stupidity _to work this out! Stop this insanity right now!"

"So what, you're saying I'm not as strong as Valentine?" He growled. Clary threw up her hands in exasperation.

"No Jace, you're _stronger _than Valentine and that's why you need to stop! Valentine's dead remember? What'd you think will happen to you if you try to prove yourself capable of what he did?" Jace held her gaze for another second before the tears in her eyes got to him and he squeezed his lids shut.

"Clary," Jace sighed, slumping his shoulders. "We both know that there's no way they're leaving us alone. The only way to solve this issue is to nip it in the butt _now_ before it gets worse. Simon will be here soon; he'll know what to do about your bite."

"SO THAT'S IT?!" Clary screamed. Even in her haze she couldn't help but notice how incredibly drained and tired Jace looked. This was taking a toll on him too. She'd known he'd be stubborn until the end and she was now positive that there was no convincing him otherwise.

"Yes, that's it." Jace spat forcefully. "Clary, I'm not going to sit back and let you be in danger. I'm not going to lose you again god Damnit!" He tried desperately to control his breathing before giving her a chaste kiss on the forehead. "You're going to be fine. Just remember everything you know about vampires." His words confused her slightly but before she could question, he was across the room. The only words he spoke before he was completely gone were too simple and unsatisfying for Clary: "Simon's here."

.

Simon burst into Clary's new home just as Jace burst out of it. Simon tried desperately to stop him and get him to explain but he was determined to ignore him; all he said was: "Clary's upstairs." Simon gaped at Jace for a moment, shocked by his apparent disregard for Clary's well-being. "She's fine; just go calm her down."

Simon stared after him in confusion as he disappeared. If Clary was fine then what had that phone call been about? What was going on? Had they been in a fight? IF they had, why wouldn't Jace call the Salem institute?

In an absolute panic this time, Simon ran at vampire-speed to Clary's room that Jace had pointed out. She was kneeling on the floor, cradling herself in her own arms, rocking back and forth, and crying. Simon rushed to her side; he'd never seen Clary like this, she'd always been so in-control. She didn't even look up at him when he approached her; she just buried her face in his shirt. For a brief moment, Simon thought that this was a very Isabelle reaction and he was struck with sorrow.

Ignoring it, he pressed himself to ask Clary what was wrong. She didn't respond, just sniffed and tried to compose herself. "Clary?" He tried again. "Why'd you call me? What's happening?" Clary pushed away from Simon and stared up at him in panic.

"Is he gone?" She asked. When Simon didn't respond, her voice grew in volume. "Simon, God Damnit is Jace gone?!" Simon nodded his head slowly and Clary threw her head back in frustration. "Why'd you let him leave?! Why didn't you stop him?!" She attempted to get up and run out the door but as the air blew past Simon, he smelled the reason he'd been summoned.

"Is that a..._bite mark_?" He asked with his nose scrunched. "Is _that_ why you called me? I know Jace is an ass Clary but I don't think he has rabies." Simon shook his head; no wonder Jace was pissed. Clary had frozen. She'd been so preoccupied with stopping Jace that she'd totally forgotten about the reason she'd been in such a rush to see Simon.

"It wasn't Jace, Simon." Clary growled. "It was _your _blood-loving leader Monty! But that's not the point!" Clay struggled to get to her feet but Simon was holding her to the ground. "Let me go! I have to go after Jace!"

"Clary, on the phone Jace said something about Monty! He didn't mention anything about leaving...you must've been freaked over the bite. Why? You didn't drink any of his blood did you?" It was then that Clary realised what Jace had meant by: 'Remember what you know about vampires'. She knew that she needed to ingest vampire blood to be turned into one; she _knew_ that. But then...why had she been so scared? Her stomach had felt like it was going to flutter out the window. Eventually, she whispered: "No..."

Simon felt a twinge of anger, regardless that Clary wasn't at risk. He had only met the leader of the Dumort once in his life; and it had not been a very pleasant meeting. He swallowed the sudden bitter taste in his mouth and went into the state of mind as the: "protective friend"; he grabbed Clary's hand and lifted it to his nose, smelling the blood that was still seeping from it. "Are you sure he didn't inject you with it? Do you feel any different? Headache? Sore Muscles? Pain of any kind?" When Clary shook her head, Simon smelled her wrist again. There was something off about the smell of the blood which is what drove him to keep going.

"Simon, what the hell are you doing?" Clary demanded. She tried to yank her wrist free; Jace was getting further away every second she wasted here; but her best friend would not let go.

Simon rubbed his neck, trying to think of a way he could possibly figure this out. She wasn't feeling any of the pain that he had felt and her heart was still beating normally, if a bit quickly. He could see nothing wrong but...her blood. It smelled different from what it normally smelled like and he couldn't let that go. He needed to find out if his best friend was going to be ok. An idea came to him then, he didn't really like it, but it would have to do for now.

"Clary..." She looked down at him warily. "I'm gonna be honest; I don't like the way your blood smells."Clary's eyes filled with confusion before Simon could continue. "I don't think it's venom but...I want to be sure. Clary, would you let me taste your blood?"

She stared at him for a split second before nodding swiftly; the sooner this was over, the sooner she could go after Jace. She stuck out her arm and waited while Simon took a deep breath and pressed his lips to her skin.

Clary waited, impatiently, while Simon worked. The sensation of having the blood sucked out of her arm was nothing like she'd imagined it would be like. It was almost calming; she could feel herself start to relax and she was almost asleep when Simon pulled away, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"What?" She demanded, tired of beating around the bush. "What's wrong with me?" Simon licked his lips and seemed to ponder the taste for a few more seconds until finally he sighed and rubbed his temples in exasperation.

"I'm not sure Clary but...it kind of tastes like it's not just your blood." He eventually said.

Clay stared at him in shock, eventually slamming her fist on the edge of the bed in anger. "But it has to be my blood!" She huffed. "I'm me after all! Why wouldn't it be my blood?!" Simon held up a hand and stopped her.

"No, I said it tastes like it's not _just_ your blood." He corrected her. Clary froze. What was he saying?

"So...what? You mean someone else's blood is tied into mine?" Simon nodded, still looking confused. "Is...Is it Monty's?" She choked. Her worries for Jace were momentarily put on hold while she waited for Simon's answer.

"No." Simon told her, shaking his head. Her body relaxed at the words...until she remembered why she was trying to escape Simon and then her muscles clenched again. "Definitely not. I'd be able to taste the vampire venom in your blood. But someone else is in there Clary; that much I can tell." He thought for a moment. "You've never had a blood transfusion have you?" He asked. Clary's eyes widened in shock.

"No, why would you ask something like _that_?" Simon had known her forever. She'd have told him if she'd had a blood transfusion.

"Well it tastes like they're very closely related to you...I thought maybe it might be your mother's..." Clary's brow furrowed in concentration, trying to deter the sudden realisation that was hitting her. Something about the way Simon had said: 'Mother' made her think twice about what Jace and her had done the night before last...

"Excuse me," She said in a panic and then rushed to the bathroom to check the calendar she kept in the top drawer. She flipped back to last month, found the date with a little red check in the corner and then counted the days until she had reached today.

"Not possible..." She breathed, throwing the calendar on the counter and pacing back and forth. "I'm late. I can't be...I mean we...I can't..." She froze mid-stride, not due to Simon's frantic questions that he was firing at her, but because she had an idea. "Unless...oh no." She dove to the floor, grabbing the small trashcan they kept beside the sink and started rooting through it until she found what she was looking for: a used, cherry-red condom.

"Is that-?" Simon asked from the doorway. "Ugh!" He scrunched his nose in disgust and turned the other way.

Clary ignored him, squeezing the little bag of white substance lightly with her finger. It was lighter than when she'd thrown it out and that was a bad sign. It was an even worse sign when an off-white liquid seeped from a tiny hole in the red casing. Clary gasped and dropped the condom back in the trashcan, falling back against the wall and clutching her stomach.

"What?" Simon demanded, entering the bathroom at last. "What's wrong?"

"It broke..." She very nearly breathed. Simon still looked incredibly confused so Clary shot up and stormed out of the bathroom in a frenzy. "The condom broke! Oh my God... Simon, oh my God _the condom broke_!"

Simon, finally catching on to what she was saying, let his jaw drop. "You-you're _pregnant_?" At the sound of the word, Clary let out a broken sob. She hadn't wanted to be a mother so early; and especially not until her life had straightened out a bit first.

"Oh God..." She sobbed. "Yes Simon, yes for God's sake I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant at 18 and the father of my child is off taking on an entire league of vampire's by himself! What are we going to do?!" Simon looked shocked by what she'd said about Jace but he quickly hid it, going back into protective friend mode. He strode over to her, put both hands on her shoulders, and tried to look her in the eye.

"Clary, this is what we're going to do. You're going to stay here-" Clary made to protest but Simon pressed on. "I'm going to call your mother and tell her what's going on. I'll get her to send Luke and the others to the Dumort to see if they can stop Jace before he gets there. He didn't leave too long ago so we may be able to stop this before it happens. Okay?" Clary nodded and silently handed Simon her cell. She listened as he called Jocelyn, told her to get here as soon as she could but didn't say why, told her to get Luke to go to the Dumort with Alec, Isabelle, and anyone else they could round up. By the time he was done, Clary was rooting through her dresser for something.

"Clary?" Simon asked her. She lifted her head to look at him, tears streaming down her face. "I'm going to leave now and go after Jace; maybe I can catch him before he gets too far. Jocelyn shouldn't be too long. She's getting Magnus to open a portal for her so she doesn't have to waste time on a plane. What are you looking for?" She nodded to the drawer and said she was looking for a sweater, she was cold. Simon smiled sympathetically. "You're going to be okay Clary; I know you are." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then he was disappeared out the bedroom door, but not before he thought he saw her slip something silver into her pyjama pants.

.

Jace rushed through the matinee of trees, weaving in and out of the wooden maze. The anger in his stomach was driving him to move faster. He wasn't going to let that filthy vampire get away with this; not anymore. He knew that Clary was in no danger but the fact that that ass Monty had the nerve to even show his face after what had transpired was enough to drive Jace into a frenzy. The problem had always lain in the Dumort; with the exception of Valentine, the vampires were the only real threat to him and his family; the family back at the institute and the family he now had back in Salem.

He stopped in his stride and almost fell into a tree with sudden change in speed. Why had he just thought "_family_ he had back in Salem"? Clay was the only one, and she was his wife –girlfriend, he mentally corrected- not technically his family. Shrugging off the odd sensation, he took up his stride again and was more determined than ever to stop this threat to the love of his life for good.

.

Simon flew at vampire speed in the direction Jace was heading; he was far ahead by now but Simon was determined to catch up, for Clary's sake. His best friend was going through an unplanned, teenage pregnancy and she needed Jace there for her. If Clary needed Jace, Simon decided, then Jace was what she was going to get.

Simon drove himself further along, all the while thinking of Isabelle. He'd heard her asking Jocelyn in the background if that was Simon on the phone and her worried voice had pulled on his heart-strings. He longed to see her after being around Clary's love for Jace; wanted to hold her in his arms. That thought, and Clary's destroyed expression when he'd left her were the only things providing enough motivation to get him through the miles he now had to run to catch up with Jace.

He ducked under another branch and then picked up speed.

.

Jocelyn arrived a mere minute after Simon had left and immediately took over the role of comforting Clary. She had managed to spit out the story to her mother after she arrived but had conveniently left out that bit about her being _pregnant_. She'd hoped that maybe that issue would be over-looked but of course her mother was more perceptive than that.

"Clary, what else is going on?' She asked as she handed her only daughter a mug of hot Chocolate. Clary's hair was a mess, her features were pale and her cheeks hollow. It'd only been a month or so since Jocelyn had seen her, but she looked a million years older. "Honey?" She pressed, her worry renewed.

Clary sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep her secret for long. Eventually it would show, in more ways than one. "Mom...please don't be mad at me?" She requested. Jocelyn looked startled but nodded, taking a seat next to her on the couch. "Ok...well, the reason Simon didn't want to leave me alone is because he doesn't want me running off after him and Jace."

Jocelyn looked confused. She had a suspicion that Clary wasn't finished yet but she commented anyway. "But you would never let Jace go by himself; especially when doing something so foolish. And Simon would know that you would want to help. Why won't he let you?"

Clary bit her lip. "That's the thing... see, Mom, I'm...I'm pregnant." Jocelyn's eyes widened and the room was deathly silent for a long time. Clary waited with baited breath while Jocelyn processed this new information. "We were safe Mom, I swear! We were so careful...but the condom broke and we didn't realise until after and I just...Oh God...I'm sorry!" Clary burst into tears again. This wasn't how she'd envisioned her first pregnancy starting out.

"Did you take a test?" Jocelyn asked after a while. Her voice was mixed with an emotion that Clary couldn't place but Clary shook her head regardless of the off feeling.

"No but...I mean...Mom, I'm a week late and the condom broke, I checked! Simon can taste two people in my bloodstream...what else could it be?!"

"Simon is a young vampire, he could be wrong. Periods can be unpredictable and the condom breaking doesn't mean a lot. Honey, there's still a chance. Come on, I'll take you to the drugstore right now." Jocelyn took Clary's hand and dragged her out the door.

.

Luke burst into the streets with a few members of the pack trailing behind him along with Alec, Isabelle, and Magnus. They hadn't had the time or money to wait for a cab so running was their only option. They'd covered a lot of ground by now and would be at the Dumort soon. Luke just hoped it would be in time to stop Jace and his idiotic plan.

"How much longer?" A new pack member whined from somewhere behind him. "My legs are killing me!"

"Shut up!" Maia snapped at him, smacking his shoulder roughly. "You'd better get used to it kiddo."

Luke shook his head at Alec, Isabelle, and Magnus as a banter broke out amongst the pack. It would be a miracle to get there in time with this nonsense going on around them.

.

Clary wrung her hands nervously as she waited for Jocelyn to come out of the washroom. Clary had been too scared to look at the results herself so she'd handed it to her mother while the results were still being calculated. She heard a slam and then the door was being opened, Jocelyn grinning at her from ear to ear. Clary stopped her pacing and stared at her mother.

"Sweetie, YOU'RE PREGNANT!" Jocelyn embraced her only daughter with enough force to knock her over and then amended her error and hugged her less roughly, being cautious of her stomach. Clary stood in slight shock as she registered that her mother was happy. Why was she _happy?_ "Oh this is going to be great!" Jocelyn gushed. "You get to go baby shopping and you get to pick out names. Oh Sweetheart, can you just imagine? A mini Jace or a mini you running around the house! I bet she or he will have your hair and Jace's eyes. Oh I can't believe it! I'm going to be a grandmother! Wait until I tell Luke!"

Clary stared at her mother, drinking in everything that she was saying. Most would get an abortion; or put the child up for adoption; but not Clary. Clary was going to tough it out. From the moment her mother had embraced her, she knew that she couldn't wait until the day she held her baby in her arms. She wasn't sure on Jace's reaction; but he'd get there.

JACE!

"Mom!" Clary exclaimed, gripping Jocelyn's forearm with enough force to break her arm. The desire to go after her husband –boyfriend, she mentally corrected- was now stronger than ever. "Jace- I mean he's- Mom, what if something happens to him?! I can't do this alone! I love him Mom!"

"I know sweetie, please, just wait for Simon. He'll get to Jace; I know he will." Jocelyn tried to comfort her but Clary wasn't hearing it.

"No Mom, I'm not leaving this to Simon. I'm going after him myself."

**Ok, I THINK this is better. Clary's a bit more...Clary in this version. I hope. Ok, REVIEW!**


	16. Tick Tock

**ALOHA AMIGOS! And how are you all this fine afternoon? I'm still on my writing curve as of now so I'm thinking...another update?! Yay me : )**

Jocelyn stared at her daughter in shock mingled with disbelief. "Clary," she began, treading carefully. "You can't be serious." When Clary showed no signs of sarcasm, Jocelyn pressed on. "Honey, you just found out you're _pregnant_. And now you're suggesting you run off into a hotel full of vampires? Sweetie that's no better than what Jace is doing!"

"I'm not going alone though Mom!" Clary pleaded. "You know firsthand that Luke and Alec and Isabelle and Maia and Simon and Jace are all going to be there! Magnus will have left by now so he'll be there too!" She shook off her mother's criticising gaze and walked towards the door.

"Clarissa Fray you stop this nonsense this second!" Jocelyn commanded, stepping in front of Clary, blocking her from the door. "This isn't just your life you have to worry about right now. You have to consider that beautiful baby inside of you." Jocelyn brushed Clary's hair out of her face.

"Mom, I won't get hurt!" Clary insisted. "I'm not even going into the Dumort. I'll stop Jace before he does something stupid, if the guys can stall him long enough, and then we'll come back! No fighting at all. Besides, by the time I get there it'll be almost daylight so if I stay outside I won't be in any danger anyway!"

"Clary," Jocelyn tried again, taking on the role of the 'stubborn parent'. "If Jace were to find out that you risked the life of your only child to save _him_, he would be absolutely furious! Clary, your best bet is to stay here and wait for Simon and the others."

"But Mom, I just can't do that." Clary shoved past Jocelyn and made her way down the stairs. She didn't know and didn't care about what was going to happen to her but she had to stop Jace from getting himself killed; just like Jace, Clary had already lost him once. She couldn't lose him again; not again.

"Clarissa!" Jocelyn snarled, she never got angry, so the reaction surprised Clary but she ignored it and started strapping on her boots. "You're being incredibly selfish! Stop and think for a second; do you want to risk your own baby's life? What if something happens? You can defend yourself but it can't! Please, just wait here. You know that Simon and Jace and the others are perfectly capable of handling anything so why put yourself at risk?!"

"Because this is all my fault!" Clary sobbed, slamming the butt of her blade into the wall. "If I had been in my right mind then I wouldn't have freaked out about the _stupid. God. Damn. BITE!_" With each word, her strikes became more vicious, eventually puncturing a hole in the drywall. "It's my fault that Jace overreacted and went after the vampires; it's my fault that Simon is running after Jace; It's _my_ fault that anyone besides Jace and I are involved in this at all!"

Jocelyn listened to her daughter's rant with slowly growing concern. All this shouting was bound to draw attention eventually; attention they didn't need. She approached Clary who now had her head pressed against the wall and was sobbing into her hands. "Clare-bear..." She whispered. "Listen to me, ok? This is what we're going to do. I'm going to call Luke on his cell; I'm going to find out if Jace is there and if they're having any problems. If they are then we'll _both_ go and if anything happens, you'll run. Ok?" It took a long time but eventually Clary nodded. Jocelyn sighed and then pulled out her own phone.

.

Jace was badly out of breath by the time he reached New York. The sun was very close on rising and that would be perfect for what he was about to do. Having the sun on his side would definitely help him out.

He caught a glimpse of the road that would lead him to the Institute and suddenly he was ashamed. How could he have left Clary in such a state? She'd been distraught and begging him to stay but he hadn't listened. Everyone was right; he truly was an ass.

But it was too late to turn back now. He had to get this done and he had every intention to. He was no longer going to put Clary in danger. He wondered briefly what Clary was doing now...had she realised she was in no danger yet? Surely she would've. Simon wouldn't let her think-

Just as the thought ran through his mind, a steel body collided with his own, sending him flying to the ground in a heap. Jace swivelled swiftly, striking out with his elbow at his attacker. The person dodged the blow but was thwarted by his next move that involved a hard kick to the groin area.

"OW! FUCKING JESUS JACE!" Simon cried in agony as he fell to the ground, cradling his crotch. "Was that really necessary?!" Jace stared down at Simon with his brow furrowed before shooting his head in all directions, expecting to see Clary. "She's not here." Simon eventually panted, pulling himself to his feet. "Jocelyn's with her at the house."

"She's not still freaked is she?" Jace demanded. Simon held his gaze for a long time, deliberating on whether he should let Clary inform Jace of the good news or if he should take the matter into his own hands. He decided it'd be safer for Clary to do it. He didn't think his crotch could handle anymore accidental abuse.

"Not for the reason that you think," Simon finally settled on saying. "But she needs you back there Jace. You have to come with me." He'd have been dreaming if he'd thought that Jace would agree to this just because Clary was having a mental break down. He knew that Jace would want to strike the cause of the break down first, and then handle the aftermath; like rooting a weed. The only problem was that Jace didn't really know what the breakdown was about and Simon wasn't about to tell him. Surely enough, he was right in his thinking.

"I can't do that," Jace told him firmly. "This has gone on way too long. I've got to put an end to it Simon, if I go back there now...it'll be like I'm letting them win. And I just can't do that. It's not in my blood to give up."

"You won't be giving up Jace! You'll be going home to your girlfriend who needs you more than you need to launch an attack on a couple of vampires." Jace folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at Simon. "Hey, don't look at me. In my opinion, a suicide bomber is an excellent career choice." Jace glowered at Simon who grinned back cheekily.

"Yeah well I'll go back home once I'm done kicking the shit out of your little colony." Jace started off towards the Dumort, his anger renewed.

"Glad to know you view us as some sort of bloodsucking ant farm." Simon rolled his eyes, keeping pace. "Besides, violence doesn't solve violence."

"What are you; a fortune cookie?" Jace growled. "Leave me alone."

"Meow, cat fight." An amused snort sounded from behind them and then Magnus appeared, seemingly from nowhere, with his hair a bright green. "Don't fret little ones; I'm here to restore peace amongst us."

Simon quirked an eyebrow, "Peacekeeper? _You_?"

"Great, we'll all be wearing nail polish and spandex." Jace muttered. Magnus tsked at his response and placed a hand on both his and Simon's shoulder.

"Spandex, my dear moody one, is a thing of the past. The new fad is cashmere, something you could never pull off." As he spoke, Magnus turned them around and had them walking in the other direction for a good few seconds before Jace pulled free of his grasp.

"Well, hate to skip out on fashion 101 but I have to get going. Hotel of vampires to kill over here." Jace turned on his heel and ran headlong into a wall of people. He hadn't even made it to the Dumort and he was already being stopped? No. Not gonna fly with him. He took a step back and looked up at the figures before him. Luke was at the head of the group, arms folded over his chest and glaring at Jace with murder coloring his irises.

"And where do you think you're going?" Isabelle demanded, taking two long steps toward him and narrowing her eyes in his face. Jace looked around her to see Alec, Maia, and pretty much everyone else from the pack Luke ran behind them. All of the wolves were being cautious of Simon who kept avoiding Maia's murderous gaze.

"Isabelle, I'm going to try to put this," He coughed violently, "'nicely'. Back. The. Fuck. UP!" Jace tried to manoeuvre around the massive group but he only succeeded in moving a few feet. Isabelle approached him again, clamping her wrist around his arm.

"Jace, you're being ridiculous. Just forget about this suicide, and go home to Clary. She needs you right now." She told him sternly, letting her eyes flash in hopes of giving Jace the idea that something else was wrong. He seemed to get the point.

"What'd you mean?" He asked, furrowing his brow. "Is she ok?"

"Oh yeah, she's _fine_." Simon rolled his eyes. "Her boyfriend ran off on a vampire killing spree and she's pr-" Three different hands clamped over Simon's mouth in that instant; Isabelle, Magnus, and Alec. All of them knew about the pregnancy, even Luke who was doing an excellent job of keeping his feelings in check knew, due to a call from Clary and Jocelyn. The only one who was in the dark was Jace, and he didn't like it one bit.

He glared dangerously at everyone but no one opened their mouths. "If someone doesn't tell me what's going on this damn second-!" Jace started to growl but Magnus had a smirk plastered on his face. "What are you laughing at Warlock?!" Jace spat, and as a result got a death glare from Alec.

"Why don't you let your girl explain things?" He gestured a long arm to somewhere behind Jace where the crowd was thinning. Jace squinted and soon two heads of fiery red hair emerged and one of them, the shorter one, threw herself at Jace.

"Thank God we got here in time!" Clary cried, locking her arms around Jace's neck. Jace stood stock still for a moment before circling Clary's shoulders with his hands and pulling her back from him.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded angrily. He's told her to stay at the house and yet here she was, right in front of him, looking relieved, worried, stressed, and...Gaunt? Pale? Weak? Jace looked closer and sure enough she looked drained. What was happening to his Clary?

"I had to come find you Jace," Clary explained, kissing his jaw lightly. "I had to make sure you stopped." Jace's expression hardened. Was everyone in the whole damn town dead set against him doing his male duty? "I...I have something to tell you."

Jace stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. She but her lip nervously, something Clary hadn't done in a while. Jace started to get scared, even though he hated to admit it. She took a deep breath and leaned closer to his ear, so as to give them more privacy even though everyone knew already. "Jace...I'm pregnant."

Jace froze; all the air had been knocked out of his lungs with those four little words; or had there only been three? Had she said: 'Jace, I'm pregnant' or 'Jace, I am pregnant'? Either way it didn't matter. Either way Jace Lightwood was a father. And either way, Jace Lightwood was _terrified_.

He couldn't handle a baby! He could barely keep his wife safe! –Girlfriend, he mentally corrected... again- And now he was supposed to care for a child? Clary was staring at him, awaiting his reaction and it was then that he realised he'd been staring with his mouth hanging open for a good minute or so. He shook himself to get over the shock and then started speaking.

"Clary...how? I mean we-" He dropped his voice, "We used protection!"

"Yeah well apparently cherry flavoured condoms are cheap!" Clary snapped in Magnus's direction. He smirked like a Cheshire cat. "I'm sorry Jace." Clary dropped her eyes to the ground as they started to swim with tears. She'd known he was going to hate her, probably beg her to get an abortion, but she wouldn't do that. Never.

All of a sudden she was being swept up in two strong arms and her lips were being crushed against Jace's. He guided her mouth open in a French kiss, pressing her to him with enough force to break her and yet he was still careful of her stomach. Clary didn't react at first, shocked by his enthusiastic reaction.

"You're not mad?" She asked. He grinned down at her, appearing very un-Jace-like in this instant.

"Mad? No," He told her, running a hand through his hair. "Scared? Hell yes! But...I don't know! I'm just kind of...happy." He explained with a chuckle. He shook his head; there was still the matter of the Dumort.

Clary guessed what he was thinking and was honestly shocked. "Jace, even now that you know, you're _still_ going to run off to the Dumort?!?" Clary demanded, pulling her hand back and snapping it forward, slapping him across the face. "What the hell is wrong with you?!?"

"Hey, you're here too aren't you?" Jace growled, taking a step away from her. "And you're the one who's pregnant! You should be miles away from here in Salem!" Clary opened her mouth to respond but Luke interrupted them, stepping between Jace and Clary and taking on a commanding stance. Clary could've sworn she saw her mother's eyes flash at Luke's dominating attitude.

Yuck.

"Will the both of you stop it?!" Luke demanded. "This is absolutely ridiculous! You should both be home right now, not off on some death mission! Look, the vampires aren't going to cause you anymore trouble."

"How do you know?!" Jace yelled. "They said they'd leave us alone after we banished Raphael, and yet we _still _get a call from Monty! Look, in my personal opinion they're never going to leave us alone! I think we should just get this over with right now!"

Luke picked up his speech, disregarding Jace. "Listen, I know the vampires will leave you alone because they've now broken our truce _twice_. That's enough. Mayrse and Robert are stepping in now." Jace froze, Clary was looking at him with an 'I-told-you-so' air, and Luke was waiting for him to respond.

"What...what'd you mean?" Jace demanded. "They're going t kill them?"

"Yes, they're going to burn the Dumort." Jocelyn confirmed. "I advise Simon to stay away from town for a while." Jace flicked his gaze back and forth a few times. Why hadn't anyone told him? As if reading his mind, Jocelyn explained. "I only put the call in to Mayrse about a half hour ago. We just found out ourselves."

Jace's mouth worked for a while before he was able to speak again. He had been so dead set on taking matters into his own hands and making Clary safe by himself. If he couldn't do that...then how could he look at his newborn child in nine months and be able to say: 'Daddy will keep you safe,'? He couldn't.

"I want to burn it." He said. Several groans erupted through the crowd. "Look, they're going to burn it anyway? Why can't I do it now instead of a bunch of snobs doing it later?"

"Hey!" Alec and Isabelle exclaimed.

"Sorry," He apologised stiffly. Everyone shared an uneasy glance. "Think about it; it's almost morning. They'll all be inside anyway; all we have to do is set fire to it and then tada, no more vamp problem." People seemed to be considering his idea and that gave Jace hope. Even Clary looked swayed. Eventually, Jocelyn sighed.

"I...I can't see why it would be a problem." She admitted grudgingly. They'd come here to stop Jace and now they were helping him instead. "On one condition; Clary stays behind." Clary dropped her jaw and made to protest.

"Clary, you're pregnant. The fumes and the danger wouldn't be good for the baby." Luke reminded her sternly. "Oh, that reminds me..." He turned to Jace, a dangerous smile twisting his features. "Jace..." He pulled back his arm and thrust it forward, colliding painfully with Jace's jaw. "That would be for knocking up my Clare-bear, Jace Fucker Lightwood."

"Ow," Jace cradled his jaw, working it to see if it was broken. "That friggin hurt!"

"Good," Luke huffed. "Now come on, let's go burn down the Dumort."

**Done! Ok, so this chapter and the next one are probably gonna be a bit short.... well, this one is short. And then the last chapter is gonna be pretty long so enjoy while you can! I'm predicting three more chapters (*tear*)**


	17. Revenge

**Okays, next chapter! I'm SOOOOO sorry I've been slow lately you guys! God I feel horrible about that, and I realise that things are getting a little OOC so I'm trying to bring it all back into focus with this chapter. I.E. Jace being macho; and Clary being a rebel! Okays, thanks so much for sticking with me for this long, I love each and every one of you! And if you're a guy, I love you more *wink* JUST KIDDING! I love all you guys! Hugs and Kisses!**

The Dumort loomed over the party of destructors with threatening darkness despite the early morning sunlight. Jace glanced up at the boarded windows and cracking bricks with a surge of hatred. This one building had caused him too much grief. He wasn't putting up with it any more.

Clary ran through his mind then; they'd left her with Isabelle back in the park. What he would do if anything happened to her, he didn't know. That's why he had to finish this; now.

He glanced around at their little party. Wondering what the hell they were all waiting for. They were at the Dumort weren't they? There was no one around was there? So why weren't they torching the damn thing already?!

"Can we hurry this up?" Jace asked impatiently; well, not really ask. More so a demand in disguise. Several people looked at him in exasperation; Luke shook his head. Jocelyn smiled at him tightly and Alec groaned, Magnus responding with a flick of his boyfriend's hair. "I have a pregnant wife-" He paused, coughed to cover his mistake, "-girlfriend to get back to here."

"Hang on Jace," Luke instructed. "We have to make sure no one's around first." Luke tiled his head in several directions, listening and looking. Jace exhaled in frustration.

"What do you expect to see? A damn leprechaun? There's nobody here!" Jace exclaimed loudly but was then shushed as two older women jogged down the road with eerie glances at the hotel. "Okay, except them." He amended as Luke eyed him. "Hey that was an unlikely coincidence!"

"Something feels off..." Luke explained, glancing around again. "I can't put my paw on it..."

"You're just paranoid." Jace scoffed. "Eat a dog biscuit and get over it."

Luke raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, Luke's right." Simon confirmed. "I feel it too. It's like...I don't know. It's like something's missing from this picture. Good thing I'm good at the Where's Waldo books." Simon announced proudly, examining the Dumort closely.

"You do realise they're for kids right?" Alec asked. Simon simply nodded as though this was obvious and not something that needed to be pointed out. Jace crossed his arms and gritted his teeth. If they didn't get their asses into gear (and soon) he'd be torching the place with two sticks. Or two rocks; whichever he could find.

Luke sniffed the air once again before nodding his approval. Jace tensed his shoulders in preparation for a fight but Luke put a hand out. "You stay here fire-balls; we don't need you blowing this for us." Jace's jaw dropped.

"What?!" He demanded. "You told me I could be here! I'm going to be here!" He knew what he sounded like; a spoiled child. But he wasn't about to let this opportunity slide by. He was going to finish this no matter what anyone said.

"I'm serious Jace; I don't want your testosterone-fuelled emotions getting in the way. This isn't a simple matter of sticking a match to the place; we have to scope it out first." Luke explained, walking towards the door with the intention of pulling the wood off of the frame.

"I won't be in the way; you can't do this without me." Jace insisted, helping Luke to rip the wood away. Their team stuck their heads into the Dumort one at a time, assessing the area thoroughly before stepping in. Just as Jace thought he was safely in, Luke pushed him back.

"I wasn't kidding Short Straw," He grumbled. "Stay outside."

Jace glared, mouth open, and about to retort when a board was slammed against the door, blocking Jace out.

He gritted his teeth, shaking with rage as he turned around in a huff and stomped towards the street. They couldn't do this to him. There was no way they were doing this to him.

But they already did.

Jace groaned in frustration as he stormed to the back of the building. If there was going to be a fight, or anything for that matter, he was going to be there for it whether Luke liked it or not. And he definitely did not.

He scanned the side of the building, looking for the drain they'd entered through last time. Where was it? He found it after only a few minutes, but soon discovered it'd been cemented over. Of course Luke would've thought of that.

Jace exhaled harshly; this exile was maddening. He shot his gaze over every part of the exterior of the Dumort, looking for an entrance. He then remembered the roof. It wouldn't be easy, scaling a hotel was no walk in the park, but he could do it. He would do it. For Clary.

With a final glance around to make sure no one could see him, he drove his boot onto a window ledge. It wasn't very sturdy, but it would hold for long enough. Despite the boards, Jace was able to get a good grip on the window ledge above him and haul his body up, balancing precariously on the edge before gaining his balance. He looked high above him where birds cast shadows on the nigh luminescent clouds; it was going to be a long day.

.

Clary sat, utterly relaxed, on a bench in the middle of the park they caught up to Jace in. The morning sun cast light and happy glows on all the new plants, illuminating the world in a cheery way that she wasn't used to. It was a shame she'd left her sketchbook at home, she would've loved to capture this in pencil...or maybe pastel.

Isabelle rested only a few feet away, her knee bobbing up and down in time with the crickets belting out their last song for the night. Clary looked over her attire; the usual: short, skin-tight, and black. How she could stand to be dressed like that all the time, Clary had no idea.

"So, bun in the oven huh?" Isabelle asked her after a long while. Clary glanced up, startled. "Must be a big change for you and Jace," Izzy continued. "I mean, a baby. That's gonna be hard."

"Oh I know," Clary agreed, subconsciously patting her stomach. "But I have nine months to get used to the idea. I'm sure I can handle it... maybe." She bit her bottom lip. She could get used to the fact that she was to be a mother in nine months...couldn't she?

"It's a big responsibility." Izzy insisted, filing a fingernail with a nail file she pulled from God knows where. "A baby I mean. You and Jace aren't even married!" Isabelle paused after the last comment, eyeing Clary for her reaction. She didn't even tense.

"No but... I mean... I don't know." She admitted sadly. "I just hope that we can get through this... for Caleb's sake."

"Caleb?" Isabelle asked with a raised eyebrow. Clary opened her mouth to produce an explanation, but she had none. All she knew was that when she said Caleb, she was thinking about her baby.

"I think that's what I want to name him." Clary responded, resting her palm over her belly button. It was crazy to think that, once in her life, she'd been connected to her mother through that little hole in her stomach. And now, her baby was connected to her the same way. Would he look back and think about that? Would he treat her like just another person in his life? Or would he realise that she meant something to him and vice versa? Were these all the questions that ran through a mother's head? Or was Clary different? More importantly, why wouldn't Izzy let her get a damn coffee?

"Well that's cute," Izzy sniffed, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. "What if it's a girl?"

"It's a boy." Clary assured her. "I can feel it." Izzy shrugged and went back to her nail filing. The park was peaceful for a long time, not so much as a bug disturbing the quiet or the morning. That is, until a shadow passed over the bench Clary was sitting on.

"What was that?" She questioned, turning in her seat to glance around. The park was quiet again, that was for sure, but there was an eerie quality to the stillness now; one that had not been there before.

"What was what?" Izzy asked, stopping her file in mid-slide. Clary held up a hand, keeping a wary eye out for movement.

"I don't... know..." She eventually admitted, dropping her shoulders. I guess I'm just being paranoid-" In the next instant her mouth was covered by a firm hand. She shrieked and Izzy reacted immediately, jumping up and revealing a Seraph blade. Isabelle assessed who was holding Clary captive, and froze. Clary struggled to see what was happening, but she found herself incapable of movement.

"It's you..."

.

"I... did not... sign up... for this!" Jace panted, pulling himself up onto the roof of the Dumort. The wind whipped at his hair, tangling it in his eyes so he was near blind. Jace had no real plan for when he was actually in the building, but he figured it wouldn't be too difficult.

The door that they had emerged from before stood in front of him. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the handle with determination, hauling it open with one fluid movement. He was in.

The hotel was just as dreary and damp as the last time; not a thing had changed. Jace was tired of seeing these walls... he just hoped they would torch with all the mildew and excess water. Well, whatever. If it didn't work he'd drag all the bloodsuckers out of the hotel and slit their throats one by one.

As Jace crept his way down the stairs, he got the eerily familiar feeling that he was being watched. He stole a glance around the room, expecting to find Monty or one of the others surrounding him, preparing for an attack, but the hotel was empty. A bit too empty actually.

"What the hell...?" Jace asked himself, slouching his shoulders. If the vampires were located somewhere else for the time being, should he have at least run into Luke and the others? Jace quickened his pace. "No, they have to be here. There's no way they're not-"

"They're not here." Alec's voice sounded from behind him. Jace spun around in time to catch Magnus, Luke, and Alec emerging from the darkness.

"What'd you mean 'they're not here'?" Jace demanded angrily. "It's the middle of the day! Where else could they be?!"

"They probably sensed us coming," Luke offered, sniffing around. "They must've left a little while before we got here. They're scent is still fresh. They can't be far."

"So let's search surrounding buildings," Jace proposed. "If they're not far then we can catch them by nightfall!" He was determined to get this done today.

"We'll check the surrounding areas yes, but I doubt we'll find anything. If they knew we were coming in the first place then I doubt they'll be too careless with their whereabouts." Luke agreed. "Come on, let's look around."

After a few minutes of searching Jace got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He shook it off at first, convincing himself that it was only frustration at not finding what he came here to find, but as the search progressed, the feeling only grew worse as they found nothing.

"Where could they be?" Jace growled in angry exasperation. "It's not like they can just hop a bus ad get the hell out of town!"

"Calm down Jace, I'm sure we'll-" Alec stopped in the middle of his sentence, clutching at his gut like someone was stabbing him.

"Alec?" Magnus asked, placing a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "This is no time to fake an appendicitis love; we can sneak off together later."

"No... Something's wrong." Alec insisted. "Something's wrong with Izzy."

Jace gripped Alec's shoulders almost painfully, trying to be clear as to what he was saying. It was a good few seconds before Jace was able to move, dropping his head in horror. "Clary."

.

The look on Isabelle's face was enough to alert Clary of the imminent danger. What was happening? The grip on her upper body was so solid that she couldn't turn her head let alone anything else. All of her senses relied on Izzy now. Hopefully she wouldn't let her down.

"Ah, I see you recognize me dear Isabelle, I'm impressed seeing as we're never met in person." That voice... that eerily familiar voice... "Unfortunately, it's quite sad that our meeting had to be on such bad terms, but I'm a little busy here as you can tell..."

Clary jerked upright with the force of her captor's movement. The morning sun glinted off her eyes, blinding her, but she didn't need to see to put a name to that voice. "Monty."

**Okay, a really short one but it's all that I have, sorry guys : ( I've been on vacation recently and in and out of the hospital so I apologize for the delay in chapter posting! I know I probably don't deserve it but...please review? : )**


	18. So This is Unexpected

**Back once more! This is going to be the... second last chapter? I may be nice and add a third one; I'll see how this one goes first! Okay, read away!**

Chapter 18: So... This is Unexpected

Clary's blood ran absolutely cold at the name. Monty? _Monty?_ That was impossible. He was a vampire. And it was daylight.

But the look on Izzy's left no room for error. The arm Clary was gripping and clawing at belonged to the vampire her boyfriend was gone off to kill. How this was possible, Clary had an idea. But nothing could be confirmed until she asked him.

"Why, what brings you two lovely ladies to the park so early in the morning?" He asked pleasantly, as if they were simply sitting around a café table having a morning coffee.

"Trying to get away from the smell of garbage, but I guess it followed us." Clary snapped, struggling harder against Monty's grip. "So what's the deal? Are you wearing a full body suit or something?"

There was a pause- a long one, where she felt Monty swallow. "Whatever could you mean?" He asked pleasantly. Clary rolled her eyes.

"You know _exactly _what I'm talking about Monty." She spat, abandoning her struggles to reach for her pocket. If she could find and utilize her blade, then perhaps she could get out of this.

The vampire was silent again for a while, before an amused chuckle erupted from his lungs. "My Dear, I was hoping to get this past you but it seems you're perfectly aware of my little ruse." He shuffled his shoulders to get a better grip on Clary. "Alright, seeing as you must know, I did in fact trick you back at your house."

"I knew it," Clary growled, keeping one hand on Monty's arm to give the illusion that she was still struggling. "You stole my blood- my angel blood- so you wouldn't burn in the sunlight." She accused.

"Yes I suppose I did," Monty laughed as if this were all a big joke. "Quite clever really, what you did with the day-walker. But not clever enough as we've obviously figured it out."

"There are other ways to kill a vampire besides sunlight Monty," Isabelle snarled. "Let me show you one of them."

"Now now, no need to be hostile." Monty shushed her. "I'm not here to be aggressive, I simply want to... well, I suppose I'm trying to tie up loose ends."

.

"Can we move any slower?" Jace complained, ushering the rest of the group along. He and Alec were far ahead of everyone, the most anxious to get back to the Park. If Jace had a bad feeling before, it was multiplied a thousand times by now.

"We're going as quickly as we can Jace, it's not like we're superheroes." Luke growled, ploughing past them. He took a final leap over a log, and then veered off towards the trees. Jace was about to call after him but Jocelyn stepped up, laying a hand on Jace's shoulder for a split second while they continued to run.

"He's going to change- he'll be more help as a wolf." She explained. Jace offered nothing in response, only quickened his run if that were even possible.

After what seemed like the longest game of cat and mouse ever played, the Park was in sight. Early morning joggers were running by them, paying no attention to the people they couldn't see. It seemed like an eternity of searching before Jace saw the lovable Redhead who was more trouble than a barrel full of monkeys- if each of those monkeys had knives.

"Get down!" Alec instructed, pulling Jace to the ground roughly. The rest of their army followed suit, ducking behind the trees just as Clary came into sight.

Jace seethed at the view he was getting of Monty, positioned behind Clary with his arm around her neck, nearly strangling her while she kicked, one hand firmly on his forearm. Isabelle stood helpless a few feet away, unable to help even if she wanted.

"Jace, sit still!" Alec whispered harshly, gripping Jace's shoulder painfully to make him still. "There's nothing we can do from here, we need to scope this out!"

"We don't have _time _to scope it out Alec! He could snap Clary's neck any second!" Jace growled, the words almost physically paining him to say.

"You think I don't realise that?" Alec snapped. "My sister's over there too Jace, and if we barge in without a plan then he's gonna kill your girlfriend and my sister before either of us can scream Bloody Murder. So what we're going to do is scope it out, make a plan, and THEN charge in there like idiots. Ok?"

Jace grit his teeth, a muscle in his jaw twitching from the effort of keeping quiet. He trusted Clary to keep a poker face and not do anything to provoke Monty, but this was Clary. Her fiery hair matched her fiery personality, and if _she _was provoked, then she _would _lash out.

The only question was could he get to her before that happened.

"So, you spread my blood to how many of your little followers?" Clary asked, trying to keep the conversation flowing. If she could just distract him long enough, then she could reach her Seraph Blade and get out of this mess. But she had to move slowly- too sudden and Monty was sure to notice.

"Only myself darling," Monty grinned, tapping his fingers across Clary's hair like she were a pet cat. "The rest of my followers had to be... dealt with."

"Dealt with?" Isabelle quoted uncertainly. "What do you mean...? 'Dealt with'?"

Jace overheard the conversation, guessing at Monty's meaning. "He's killed them," Jace whispered in amazement. "He's killed all of them. He's the only one left."

"Makes our job easier," Alec shrugged.

"But why?" Jace persisted, scratching his chin in thought. "Why would he kill them all? Is he that arrogant?"

"Look who's calling who arrogant." Alec snickered. Jace shot him a glare.

"That would explain why the Dumort was so quiet. He probably has them stored in the basement." Jocelyn suggested.

"Again, makes our job a hell of a lot easier." Alec repeated.

"Well my Dear," Monty laughed. "In your field of work you'd think you'd understand what 'dealt with' means." When Isabelle remained silent, Monty sighed. "I killed them you foolish girl, and it wasn't that hard either. A few promises of something better, and they were putty in my hands, just like always."

Clary's quest for her blade gained vigour at the thought that the last vampire that can and will cause them trouble is holding her captive. Her fingers grazed the hilt of her blade and she paused, waiting with baited breath for Monty -or someone- to continue talking.

Isabelle made eyes with Clary, seeing her intentions. With a tongue as quick as a whip she got Monty talking once again. "But why kill them all? Wouldn't you need the help?"

Monty chuckled. "I don't need that incompetence around me unnecessarily. You saw yourself that Raphael couldn't even handle this little twig," He nodded towards Clary and Jace's anger surged again. Just as his legs would keep him sitting no longer, Clary lashed out with her Seraph blade at lightning speed, slashing Monty in the ribcage.

He doubled over, recoiling his arm and freeing Clary. She lunged forward, away from his grasp, and then Jace was out of the bushes, charging Monty. Alec surged after him while Isabelle flicked her whip in Monty's direction, catching his heel. The vampire momentarily stumbled.

"You circle around back so he can't get away," Jocelyn commanded, pointing at Magnus. He complied, but was not happy about it, rounding the battle to catch Monty if he tried to escape. "We don't have much time, the humans will notice if the ground before their eyes is being torn to shreds."

"Not to mention they can see me and Monty," Simon offered.

"And Luke," Alec growled, just as Luke lunged from the trees towards Monty, snatching his upper body in his mouth and snapping him like a twig. Clary blanched at the sight, but she remained objective, sighing in relief that this was all finally over.

"Well, I guess there's only one thing to do." Jace grunted, pushing his blond hair out of his face. "Are you ok?" He added in an undertone.

"I'm fine," Clary admitted, leaning into his chest. "Let's get this over with."

.

The sun had set again, and once again they were standing in front of the Dumort, solemn expressions that somehow seeped relief as well as morbidity. The hotel had been doused in gasoline, the work of Jace, and Alec held the lighter.

"Hey man, can I do it?" Jace begged, a hidden message behind his eyes. Alec complied with a suspicious look. Jace had been thinking all day. That episode earlier had scared him, scared him bad, and all this fear was getting to him, making him think things. He didn't know what had brought this on, but he was going with it, before he changed his mind and his decision.

He bent to where the line of gasoline started, flicking the lighter. He had it almost to the ground when he hesitated, already unsure if he could do this.

"Jace?" Clary called, worry in her bright green eyes. One look at her gave him all the reassurance he needed, and Jace tossed the lighter to the ground. The gas caught fire and snaked around the building, igniting the night with a brilliant flame.

"Let's go." Clary insisted, but Jace stopped her. He gestured for everyone else to go ahead, but directed Clary at the burning building.

"What'd you see?" He asked, sucking in his bottom lip like he was nervous.

"I see fire Jace," Clary sighed. "Now can we go? I'm hungry and I'm eating for two here remember?"

Jace laughed. "Look again Clary, tell me what you see." Clary huffed but looked regardless, tracing the flames with her eyes. After a few seconds, she realised that the trail of gasoline had formed words along the side of the building.

'_Will' _...she traced some more... _'You' _...more letters were appearing among the tangible flame... _'Marry'_... she stopped there. No way. This couldn't be... _'Me?' _Jace had just... proposed? But... he didn't... he wasn't... he _couldn't_...

"I mean it Clary," Jace mumbled, seeing her disbelief. "These past few days, they've scared me. And I don't ever want to be that scared again. I don't know if this is gonna help or not, but it's worth a shot. Whataya say? You in this for life?"

Tears shot to Clary's eyes as she took in Jace, his sharp features illuminated by the light of the fire. "Jace..." She whispered, her face splitting in a grin. "I'm in this for life; you know I was always in this for life."

Jace answered her grin, picking her up and giving her a twirl. "Well Clary," He laughed, thinking of the two of them spending their lives together. "Let the yelling begin."

**Hey guys! D: I'm sorry this was so late! But good news, you'll only have one more wait to go! This story is over now, and the next chapter is the epilogue. Thank you so much for sticking with me through 18 chapters of long waits and sometimes bad writing lol. I love each and every one of you, and if you like my writing, follow one of my other stories, thanks again for reading and giving me the confidence to continue, so drop me one last review for Reunion and I'll be off... well, until the epilogue anyway ;D**


	19. Epilogue

**My Good God you guys, it's the Epilogue! This is it! After I post this, the story is complete! No more! Finito! What am I gonna do! Lol well, I'll stop rambling, and let you guys read the last chapter of Reunion...**

***Sidebar: I posted a Halloween chapter in December because I believe Halloween season should last a lot longer than it does! It's so not because I was too slow finishing it... Hehe... he...**

_Epilogue: Trick or Treat_

One year later

"Nathanial!" Clary called through the crowd. She elbowed her way through the throng of people to get a better look around. By the Angel where had that child gone? Izzy had taken it upon herself to throw a Halloween party, and Clary and Jace had decided that they would attend, bringing along their 3 month old child. He was learning to crawl now, so Clary couldn't turn her head for even a second.

It was odd for a 3 month old to have such developed motor skills, but Clary kept reminding herself that this was Jace's baby. He could probably pull a 6-inch blade from his diaper and cut his own cooked carrots. Speaking of Jace, they'd yet to get married, but the day was fast-approaching. A tropical wedding had been decided upon, just to branch out slightly. The house was completely furnished now, and painted, complete with Nathanial's room. They were far better off than they were nearly a year ago, and much happier now that the vampire drama had ended.

"There you are!" Clary exclaimed in relief as she sighted Nathan gumming a candy corn. She took his pudgy hand in her slender one and removed the offending piece of candy. This is what she got for asking Jace to watch him for a minute while she went to the bathroom. Nathanial was the spitting image of Jace- blond curls bouncing around his face, the shape of his facial features that had yet to fully develop, and his full lips. Clary could tell that once the baby fat disappeared, he was going to be long and lean just like his father. The only characteristic Nathan had inherited from her was the softness in her features and his bright, sparkling green eyes.

"You thought I had him lost, didn't you?" A husky voice taunted in Clary's ear. She turned to meet Jace's body, cloaked in a bright red ensemble to cover the blinding silver armour he wore underneath. It was a comical experience trying to get him into the outfit; she had almost suffocated from laughter when his muscles actually prevented him from fitting into the suit comfortably. She herself wore a sleek black mid-drift, and midnight cargo pants with a tool belt and a cat mask. Jace had been ecstatic when she said she was going as Catwoman, and didn't delay in showing his support.

"Oh I knew you had him lost," Clary taunted back. "You always do." Jace rolled his eyes, looking down at their little bundle of joy. Clary had dressed him as a bumble bee, something Jace strongly disapproved of. Nathanial should've been decked in a leather jacket and ripped jeans due to the fact that he was as outgoing and defiant as Jace had ever been; at 8 weeks he'd somehow gotten a hold of Jace's Seraph Blade and slashed a hole in the wall. Clary had gone into a fit about Jace letting Nathan anywhere near his weapons, but Jace had insisted he left the blade in his room. How Nathan had gotten it he will never know.

"Your faith in me is suffocating Dear," Jace mocked, stooping to hoist his son into his arms. Nathanial gurgled until he had stopped in his flight from ground to arms, and had settled into Jace's hold. He looked around animatedly, curious about everything and yet acting indifferent when someone caught his eye. Clary inwardly groaned- it was Jace all over again.

"Hey 'rents," Simon called from the dessert table. He'd ironically enough decided to go as Dracula, and was doing a lovely job with the vampire act. "Bring my son over here would you?"

Clary rolled her eyes. "He's your Godson Simon, we're not dead yet." Nevertheless, she guided Jace over to the drink table. People milled around aimlessly, some in extravagant costumes, some in simple, some barely dressed up at all, and some barely dressed. Isabelle was among those in the simple costumes, but the way she wore it made it seem extravagant. She was currently hanging off of Simon, whom she'd been seeing for several months now, and she was dressed in a ruffled pink dress, with a tiara and a sceptre, though whenever asked she was most definitely not a Princess, she was an undercover cop.

Simon held out his arms and took Nathanial from Jace, swinging the kid back and forth in an airplane motion. Clary observed for a while, shaking her head in amusement. Abandoning the spectacle, she weaved through the crowd to see everyone else. Alec and Magnus were still going strong, Magnus flame-a-fying Alec more and more every day. It was almost hilarious to watch, the way Alec squirmed uncomfortably in the bright get-up Magnus had him in.

"How's the party?" Clary asked, laughing as Alec nearly jumped out of his costume. He'd grown so much in the past little while- his mood had improved critically and he was more easy-going now that he'd let up and embraced life a little more. They'd ALL embraced life more now, after everything that had transpired, the occasional demon attack was no longer a big deal, and no longer bothered them as much as it had before.

"Oh it's... interesting." Alec offered carefully, in case Isabelle was close by.

"Hmm, I'd much rather be down town at the Frisk n' Whisk, the setting is more... adult friendly," Magnus winked.

"The Frisk n' Whisk?" Clary repeated doubtfully. It sounded to her like a place where cats made baked goods.

"Don't ask my Dear," Magnus chuckled. "You'd be in for a particularly dirty treat."

Clary was about to thank him for the warning when the lights at the party decided to spontaneously blink out. The entire assembly was doused in darkness, with hushed murmurs and confused voices. Had Izzy planned a show?

Once it was clear that this was certainly not Isabelle's idea, a whisper of panic flitted through the crowd and people started to mill about, attempting to find a source of light to illuminate the situation, or searching desperately for those they'd come with. Some of the more fortunate species who'd attended still retained their vision and the nicer ones offered their help.

"Clary?" She heard Jace call. She turned around and collided with a woman that was most definitely not Jace. She apologized and attempted to paw her way through the people, and eventually her hand grasped a familiar arm.

"There you are," She said, confident that she'd found her fiancé. Sure enough Jace reached over and gripped her waist, making certain he wouldn't lose her in the gradually pulsing crowd. "What's going on? Do you know?"

"Not the faintest idea," Jace muttered almost incoherently. He'd immediately gone into Shadowhunter mode, preparing for anything that might come out of the situation.

"Where's Nathanial?" Clary demanded, going into Mom mode before she let herself go into Shadowhunter mode. "Is he safe?"

"He's with Simon and Isabelle," Jace muttered, reaching into his pocket for his witchlight. There was a moment of silence before a small circle around them erupted in a light blue illumination. The slightly confused faces of people around them were suddenly visible, and in various other locations Nephilim were producing their own lights.

"Ok, now that we can see-" Jace began, but he was cut off by a fierce howling. Everyone around them spun in a panic, wondering where on Earth the noise could be coming from. After a lengthy conversation in shouts, it was discovered that the howling was coming from outside.

People immediately rushed the window, milling about the panes of glass in anticipation, trying desperately to peer through the trees and buildings that were blocking their view. There was a magnitude of movement outside, but nothing that could clearly be deciphered in the midst of all the party-goers.

"Jace, what the hell is going on?" Clary whispered, shoving against a portly man with a Jason mask squishing his features. He groaned his discomfort, barely heard over the whimpers of confusion. Jace opened his mouth to respond as best he could, but a piercing wail sounded from the window pane. It sounded as though someone was screaming in agony, but in reflection it was easy to tell the sound of a sharp object being dragged along the glass.

From somewhere in the middle of the room, there was a large pop, and then the air was filled with a glowing red powder, billowing towards the exterior of the crowd. "Jace!" Clary exclaimed, gesturing to the powder as it struck someone's witch light, extinguishing it. As the dust hit more and more witch lights, the light dimmed until there were only a few left. When the dust reached Jace and Clary, they tried to wave it off, but it was no use. Their witch light soon extinguished along with the others.

Once the room was again dark, everything happened very quickly. A pane of glass was shattered, and then another, and then another. The front door was burst open, sending splinters of wood flying in all directions. A fierce growling flooded the atmosphere, penetrating the cries of the guests with ease. Clary spun to get a better look at their attacker, but nothing was seen except great, black, moving masses. There was a flicker of a tail here, a flash of a tooth there, but other than that the forms were indecipherable.

"Take Nathan and get out," Jace instructed. Clary could see the hilt of his Seraph blade in his hand, just barely. She hesitated. On one hand she wanted to ensure her child's safety, but on the other she had yet to lose her fighting spirit. And if there was a battle to be had, one where she was needed, she was not going to be left out.

"I trust Simon and Isabelle with my life," Clary whispered back, reaching down to produce a blade from a thigh-sheath she'd borrowed from none other than Izzy. "They can take care of Nathan. I'm helping you with this." She could feel Jace glance at her with his classic smirk, and then square his shoulders.

"Alright, let's do this." He ground out between a clenched jaw. His grip reflexively tightened on the blade-handle, his knuckle turning white under the pressure. Clary dipped under someone's arm in the crowd, moving lithely forward among the people. Jace followed suit, keeping pace with her and listening for any indication of something unfriendly.

There was a huff to Jace's right, something that did not resemble anything at the party. Jace released his breath to catch Clary's attention and then struck out with his arm. His elbow collided with a bone coated in padding- flexible skin with a thick blanket of fur. From what Jace could tell, it felt like a very large jaw.

The creature recoiled temporarily, but bounced back with a spark of anger. Jace ducked out of the way, striking out again with relish. Clary had joined him then, using her other senses to aide Jace in battle. Jace bumped into another party-goer as he tried to avoid the great animal. He heard teeth snap together somewhere near his ear. He inhaled sharply as the creature turned to him again and he had to duck out of the way.

Clary jumped at the thing attacking Jace, but was thrown off by a powerful limb and flung backwards a few feet. She gripped her blade, preparing to strike at it, but was instantaneously blocked by another creature. What _were_ these things?

Jace dove under the legs of the creature nearest to him, trying to get to an advantage. It failed miserably as the creature jumped and Jace was on his own again. The people at the party had resumed their screaming, and many were not milling about at the sounds of battle. The panic in the room was nigh-tangible; a sweaty, sticky, hot feeling that hovered in the air along with the strange dust. Jace rolled to his feet, his boots squeaking against the floor.

Clary parried with the animal, dancing around it and trying to find its intentions. It didn't seem to have any as it reflected her movements almost perfectly. Had she become that predictable? She didn't think she had. But just in case, she decided to switch her tactics. Rolling her shoulders, she jumped at the thing, coming from an angle that was difficult to work with on her part, but unexpected to any enemies.

Apparently she'd been wrong though, because the thing swatted at her with a paw and sent her back to the ground. It growled out an odd sound, like it was playing with her? She was confused.

Jace could hear Clary struggling with another one of the animals, and he was torn. Continue with his own, or help her? He decided to finish off with his own animal first, to try not to add to the problem she was having.

This thing was playing a game with her, Clary realised with a pang of annoyance. She rolled her shoulders, fed up with this cat-and-mouse charade, and lowered her blade for a hidden attack. The animal saw through her ruse, and as fast as she could blink there was a rush of fur, the musty scent of it filling her nose and tickling her throat, causing her to retch. Her bare back collided with the linoleum flooring, her sweat causing her to stick and pulling at her skin painfully. The great thing she was wrestling with collapsed on top of her, pinning her body to the ground with a massive paw.

"Damn!" She cursed, struggling to get some leverage. The animal leaned in close to her face, muzzle only an inch from her nose. Steaming bursts of mint-scented breath whooshed from behind curved fangs. What was going on?

Clary inhaled as much as she could, preparing to call for someone's attention, but something was happening first. The room flooded with a thick fog, seeping between the people and the animals, never reaching above knee-height. At the same time the lights came back on, flickering at speeds that rivalled a strobe light. Clary had to blink a few times to get the gist of what was happening, and when she did she nearly doubled over with laughter.

When the lights calmed themselves, murmurs of confusion filled the air, but as the fog drifted away, the confusion faded into understanding, and then laughter. People stood around, calming their racing hearts and cooling off from the stressful situation. Clary rolled her eyes and pushed against the thing above her, struggling to get her father off of her.

"Luke! I can't breathe!" Clary laughed, staring up at the shining eyes of the werewolf above her. Luke barked a laugh and took a step back, letting Clary jump to her feet. She looked around to see the rest of the pack scattered among the guests, barking and looking around for food. Clary saw Jace standing next to a wolf-form Maia, pushing his hair back off of his forehead and looking a combination of relieved, and agitated.

"What on Earth was all this about?" He grumbled. She laughed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Happy Halloween!" Isabelle shouted to everyone, a bright smile on her face. Jace looked slightly murderous.

"Are... you... SERIOUS?" He glared. "All of this was... was... was a JOKE?" She gave him a scrunch of her nose.

"Come on Jace lighten up, it's a holiday." With that, she flitted off to find Simon.

Jace dropped his head onto Clary's shoulder, looking exhausted by the 'joke'. "I'm going to kill her." He stated in a monotone. Clary laughed, running a hand through his golden locks and pulling on them, bringing his head up so she could see his eyes.

"Lighten up Jace," She whispered. "It's a holiday." Jace was about to retaliate but she stopped him, leaning in to plant a kiss. "Now come on, let's go find our son."

**Alright, nothing spectacular, and I know there's not much smexi-ness, but hey, just go read the other chapter for that! :D Anyways, yes I know I'm posting a Halloween chapter, at Christmas of all times, but hey, why not right? Ok, so thank you all of you guys for sticking with me this long, and thank you so much for reviewing, and reading, and not killing me for taking forever to update. I love each and every one of you, and Reunion is finally over. Will there be a sequel? Perhaps. But for now, THE END :3**


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